The Federal Government has described as blackmail, the allegation by the cryptocurrency exchange giant, Binance, that some officials demanded a $150m bribe to settle the criminal charge filed against the firm.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in a statement on Wednesday, dismissed the claims as baseless and part of a wider attempt by Binance to evade accountability for alleged criminal activities.
Binance’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Teng, accused unidentified individuals of acting on behalf of officials to demand $150m in cryptocurrency to resolve the tax evasion and money laundering case against the company and its officials.
In a post published by the New York Times on Tuesday, Teng alleged that unknown persons made the bribe demand to Binance officials shortly after they held a meeting with lawmakers on January 8, 2024.
The House of Representatives, however, denied demanding or collecting bribes from the cryptocurrency platform as insinuated by the Binance’s CEO.
The lawmakers said the accusation could bring the House and its members into disrepute, insisting that its committees did not meet the Binance executives as claimed by Teng.
Teng, in his article, however, claimed that the purported agent demanded “a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make the issues go away.”
Reacting to the allegations, the minister noted that the investigation against Binance in Nigeria centred on allegations of money laundering, terrorism financing, and illegal trading activities facilitated through its platform, stressing that it would not succumb to blackmail or coercion.
Idris, in the statement issued by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, contended that the allegations lacked “any evidence and are merely a diversionary tactic employed by Binance to deflect attention from the serious charges it faces in the country.”
The minister said, “This claim by Binance CEO lacks an iota of substance. It is nothing but a diversionary tactic and an attempted act of blackmail by a company desperate to obfuscate the grievous criminal charges it is facing in Nigeria.
“We would like to remind Binance that it will not clear its name in Nigeria by resorting to fictional claims and mudslinging media campaigns. The only way to resolve its issues will be by submitting itself to unobstructed investigation and judicial due process.”
The government, therefore, pledged to address the legal issues surrounding Binance operations in the country.
“The government of Nigeria will continue to act within its laws and international norms and will not succumb to any form of blackmail from any entity, local or foreign,” he added.
Also, raising a ‘point of privilege,’ during Wednesday’s plenary, a member of the House of Representatives, Kama Nkemkanma, asserted that the House never met with Binance executives or their agents.
“This House can never allow itself to be talked down,” he said, as he charged the lawmakers not to take the allegation lightly.
Speaking after, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, urged the Clerk of the House to take note.
“We need to use whatever media available to us to refute this allegation. Nothing like that has ever happened. No committee of the House has ever engaged this man,” he added.
The House also resolved to investigate the mysterious escape of the Head of the African Region of the cryptocurrency exchange company, Mr Nadeem Anjarwalla, from the custody of the National Security Adviser.
Abbas mandated the committees on Financial Crimes, National Security and Intelligence and Interior to investigate and report to the House in two weeks.
The House also directed the committees to investigate the personnel involved in the incident.
The directive followed the adoption of a motion moved by the member representing Aguata Federal Constituency, Anambra State, Mr Dominic Okafor.
Leading the debate, Okafor noted that the Federal Government arrested and detained Anjarwalla on February 26, 2024, for alleged complicity in money laundering and terrorism financing.
According to him, “The two Binance executives were billed to appear in court on April 4, 2024, to answer to the alleged crimes against Nigeria before the security breach occurred, which led to the escape of one of the company’s executives in a very scandalous dimension.
“The persons suspected to have committed such atrocious crimes against the state of Nigeria with already over-burdened security challenges were kept in a guest house in Abuja, instead of lawful custody of the Department of State Service or any other approved custodial facility.
“The escape of the Binance executive from the Office of the National Security Adviser using a ‘smuggled passport’ is, to say the least, most disappointing, embarrassing and disturbing as it portrays the porosity of the security architecture of the country to the world.
“Weeks after the unfortunate escape and inability of the security forces to re-arrest Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Kenyan Police arrested him on April 22, 2024, as the International Criminal Police Organisation moved to extradite him to Nigeria soon to face the allegation levelled against the company.”
