Ardent Energy was shocked to discover the stories in the media that a judgement debt of N1.2 billion was issued by the Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue for unremitted personal income tax.
As a law‑abiding organization, the Company has engaged legal counsel and is taking appropriate steps to have the judgment set aside. The Company was not aware of the underlying proceedings or the purported judgment.
Earlier, AKIRS had demanded ₦920,010,200.50 (Nine Hundred And Two Million, And Ten Thousand, Two Hundred Naira Fifty Kobo) as alleged tax debts for its employees covering the period from 2015 to 2019. Ardent Energy Services Limited considered this demand unreasonable and unsubstantiated. In response, the Company provided records showing that in the years 2015 ‑ 2019, it had only a small number of employees in Akwa Ibom State: two in 2015 through 2018, and five in 2019. It also presented that total employee salaries for that period amounted to ₦155,937,829.00 (One hundred And Fifty Five Million, Nine Hundred and Thirty Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred And Twenty Nine Naira) which is 15% of the alleged tax debts and that the corresponding taxes were duly paid.
Confronted with these records, a consultant/agent of AKIRS demanded the Company pay half of the alleged tax debt before any reconciliation. The Company rejected this demand as well, noting that it was also unsupported by proper assessments, records, or due process.
When the Company persisted in declining the demand, AKIRS reportedly approached the Akwa Ibom State Revenue Court without serving process on Ardent Energy, obtained judgment against the Company, and subsequently secured the garnishee order nisi on no valid legal basis. No audit was carried out; employee records were not requested; and it is unclear what methodology or accounts were used to arrive at the alleged debt.
Ardent Energy is committed to pursuing all legal options to set aside the judgement and obtain redress for what it considers AKIRS’s unlawful actions.
