SAHARA LIED! CLARIFICATION ON SAHARA REPORTERS’ ARTICLE ON BUA INDUSTRIES

Deliberate, devious disinformation has been one of the downsides of the explosion of social media in the last decade. And no worthwhile institution or individual has been immune to the malefic fangs of its purveyors. BUA Industries was recently at the receiving end of such outright falsehood by Sahara reporters.

According to BUA, “In a story published on November 2, regarding an alleged N198.7 billion tax liability attributed to BUA Industries Limited arising from a claim stemming from an estimated tax computation by FIRS based on an over 1 trillion naira turnover in 2022 which is false”.

The documents available to TheCapital revealed that the news portal, Sahara, was characteristically living up to its infamy of unprofessionalism and predilection for injurious untruth as there was no iota of truth in the earlier report.

The statement reads “The letter from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) dated September 19, 2023 was a routine inquiry, to which we have responded promptly and categorically denied any such tax liability as BUA Industries Ltd never had 1 trillion turnover in 2022 (see FIRS Letter and our Response attached). We have already objected to the absurd claim as per the letter, and our books remain open for inspection by FIRS and other regulatory bodies to ascertain our compliance with tax laws and other statutory obligations”.

The article’s narrative about a seven-day ultimatum is misleading; it was a timeframe given to respond to the inquiry, not to pay any alleged amount”.

Contrary to claims by Sahara. “BUA Industries Limited maintains a cordial and transparent relationship with regulatory bodies, including FIRS, and we are committed to adhering to all tax laws
and other statutory obligations. The publication misrepresents the nature of the inquiry and the engagement between BUA Industries Limited and FIRS”.

BUA Industries Limited remains committed to operating under the highest standards of corporate governance, transparency, and regulatory compliance. We appreciate the continuous trust and support from our stakeholders and the public”.