JOSEPH SHAGBAOR IKYEGH, JCA (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The tax appeal is from a judgment of an Oyo State High Court holden at Ibadan (the court below) empowering the respondent to distrain the movable and immovable property of the appellant for non-payment of ₦21,233,213 (Twenty-one Million, Two Hundred and Thirteen Naira) unremitted deduction in respect of Withholding Tax until settlement of the tax liability by the appellant.
Skeletally put, the appellant is a public liability company engaged in the business of brewing and selling inter alia alcoholic beverages with its branch office in Ibadan, Oyo State; a disputed withholding tax (WHT) assessment made and served by the respondent on the appellant for the 1998 tax year in respect of trade transactions between the appellant and individual contractors caused the respondent to launch an action on originating summons to determine the dispute. In the course of hearing the originating summons, the dispute became controversial or …