TheCable

One week after the Integrated Logistics Services (Intels) made the headlines over the termination of its pilotage agreement with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), the company is in the news again.

This time around, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has accused the organisation co-founded by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Gabriele Volpi, an Italian national, of not paying taxes.

On Monday, FIRS officials pasted a non-compliance sticker on the headquarters of the company in Onne, Rivers state.

The action led to reports that the company had been sealed but an official of the tax agency told TheCable that such stickers are pasted on companies which have not been complying with tax obligations.

“FIRS did not carry out any enforcement on Intels. Our team only pasted a non-compliance sticker on the premises of the company,” the official said.

“Such stickers are always pasted on the premises of companies that have not been complying with the company’s tax obligations – value-added tax Act Cap VI, and companies income tax, CIT Cap C21, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2014 and other tax laws.

“The non-compliance stickers are routine.We did not seal nor close the company. Intels is free to carry out its operations. It is not a distrain sticker.”

The official refused to disclose the amount that Intels is allegedly owing.

In 2015, the former vice-president had described Intel as his most successful business.