- He’s peddling falsehoods,says Information Minister
- We’ll meet in court, says House member Agbese
- Onwusibe: No comment because we are already in court
Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan drew angry reactions from the Federal Government and two members of the House of Representatives yesterday after alleging that National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu and three Reps demanded a $150 million bribe from him during the investigation of his company in Nigeria.
Information and national Orientation Minister Mohammed Idris said the allegations were outrageous and defamatory.
He asked Nigerians to disregard the falsehoods.
Deputy Spokesperson of the House Philip Agbese dismissed the allegations as baseless and gave Gambaryan a seven day ultimatum to retract his words or face legal action.
Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Crimes Ginger Obinna Onwusibe called it a lie from the pit of hell.
The third Rep, Peter Akpanke,could not be reached despite strenuous efforts to get his reaction.
Gambaryan, a US citizen, was arrested on a business trip to Nigeria in February 2024 and later charged alongside his company Binance with laundering $35.4m which they denied.
Nigeria accused the digital platform – where investors can buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies – of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the Naira.
Binance’s Africa regional manager Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national who was arrested with Gambaryan had fled Nigeria shortly after the two men were put under house arrest.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) however withdrew the charges against Gambaryan last October for medical reasons,although separate tax evasion charges against Binance remain in place. Binance has also denied those charges.
Yesterday he took to X (formerly Twitter) to accuse Ribadu and the Reps of trying to extort money from him.
He said:”At the House meeting, there were three members present. Two of them were Peter Akpanke and Philip Agbese, both working under the leadership of Ginger Obinna Onwusibe. “There was a third House member, but I don’t recall his name. They set up fake cameras and media to make the meeting appear official, but the cameras weren’t even plugged in. As you may already know, this ended with them asking for a $150 million bribe, paid in cryptocurrency into their personal wallets. A Mickey Mouse operation at its best.
“@NuhuRibadu invited us to the official meeting and worked through Sa’ad Abubakar. Another key figure in this situation was Hamma Adama Belloji. Ogunjobi was just a pawn; they used him too. This was a sold as a friendly meeting with the NSA, the head of the SEC, and the CBN governor and include the discussion of the bribe that was solicited by the House of Representatives.”
“The $26 billion figure they kept pushing publicly as some mystery money escaping Nigeria is complete BS. This information was provided in response to their request and was simply cumulative trade data for Nigerians on the platform. This money didn’t leave Nigeria—it was just people buying and selling crypto. For example, if you trade $100 a hundred times, that’s $10,000 in trade volume, but in reality, you only used $100. Again, just another example of them lying to cover up their BS investigation.
“They lied about Nadeem escaping during mosque prayers. In reality, he returned and escaped afterward. I don’t know exactly how he managed to flee. He emailed me in November, but we haven’t discussed the details of his escape. It’s possible he paid someone off, but I have no proof.
“Nadeem did not escape lawful detention—we were being held illegally.
There was a lot of noise about using Interpol to capture Nadeem. As someone who has been involved in multiple extradition cases, I can confidently say this was a joke. Extradition is a lengthy legal process, and no rational judge in Kenya or wherever would ever approve extradition for someone who escaped illegal detention at the hands of rogue law enforcement—especially when that detention involved holding employees hostage to pressure their employer. All noise.
They tried to use us to violate international privacy laws by demanding user data on all Nigerians to target opposition members allegedly ‘manipulating the price of the naira.’ “However, they all knew that the naira’s devaluation was a direct result of Tinubu’s monetary policy, which depegged the naira from the dollar. I’m not saying this policy decision was wrong, but everyone understood that removing government intervention would lead to extreme devaluation. Instead of acknowledging this, they used Binance as a scapegoat.”
Gambaryan is peddling falsehoods, says FG
Idris,in a statement last night,said while the Federal Government was reluctant to engage Gambaryan, due to the high-level diplomatic intervention that resolved his case, it had a duty to “set the record straight to prevent his falsehoods from gaining traction.”
He said: “The first visit of Mr. Gambaryan and his colleagues to Nigeria was at their own discretion, and the Government was not officially involved. However, when the Government’s attention was drawn to an alleged bribery demand during that trip, an investigation was immediately launched, despite there being no formal complaint from anyone.
“Mr. Gambaryan’s second visit to Nigeria was part of a wider probe into the criminal manipulation of the Nigerian currency through peer-to-peer platforms like Binance, but investigators were frustrated by the tactics deployed by Gambaryan and his team.
“Mr. Gambaryan was released by the Nigerian government in October 2024 on humanitarian grounds and following a high-level diplomatic intervention that ended with tangible benefits for Nigeria. The government rejected Binance’s offer of a $5 million down payment in exchange for Mr. Gambaryan’s freedom, in favour of a more beneficial settlement with the American government.
“We categorically deny the retaliatory claims made by Mr. Gambaryan against Nigerian officials involved in his case, and we urge the public to disregard these false accusations in their entirety.
“It is essential to note that Mr. Gambaryan’s allegations are not only unsubstantiated but also lack credibility, given his apparent motive to discredit and intimidate those who ensured he faced justice.
“However, we are confident that both the Nigerian and American judicial systems will provide Mr. Gambaryan with a fair opportunity to substantiate his claims in court. Until then, we advise the public to exercise caution and not be swayed by Mr. Gambaryan’s unfounded and malicious claims.”
Omokri: It’s a false flag operation to distract Nigerians
Social critic,Reno Omokri said Gambaryan’s mention of the name of Ribadu and his office was a false flag operation designed to distract Nigerians from “revelations that USAID funded Boko Haram.”
Reacting on X,Omokri said: “The lies by Tigran Gambarya against Malam Nuhu Ribadu and the Office of the National Security Adviser are a deliberate distraction designed to deflect attention from the terror funding scandal involving USAID.
“Discerning Nigerians may have noticed that Mr. Gambarya made his wild allegations precisely an hour after Republican U.S. Congressman Scott Perry revealed that certain U.S. high officials had been funding Boko Haram. Exactly an hour after Congressman Perry unveiled those revelations, Mr. Tigran Gambarya suddenly posted his false allegations on X.
“This is a man who has been roaming free in the United States for weeks. Why now?
“Nigerians should note that Mr. Tigran Gambarya is a functionary of certain agencies who were involved in acts of economic sabotage against Nigeria, which included providing a platform for siphoning $25 billion out of Nigeria annually.
“Nigerians may also recall that after Binance was delisted by the government and ceased operating in Nigeria, the Naira rose sharply, appreciating by 36.4% in one day. This caused President Tinubu to issue a statement on video praising the ‘seismic shift’ of our currency, which had gone from ₦1598 to $1 on Thursday, March 21, 2024, to ₦1,382 to $1 the following day, Friday, March 22, 2024.
“It is, therefore, not surprising that Mr. Tigran Gambarya, who was a former agent, would now come out to make his fallacious claims just as it was revealed that some interests were funding terror in Nigeria through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which Congressman Perry says was making multimillion Dollar annual payments to Boko Haram at a time when the Obama and Biden regimes were refusing to sell weapons to Nigeria.
“This is a typical distraction strategy, and Nigeria should not fall for it. The swamp is desperate and, therefore, clutching at straws.
“Malam Nubu Ribadu is an incorruptible leader who, as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, refused a $15 million cash bribe in 2006 and instead deposited the funds at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Tigran Gambarya is an allegedly corrupt economic saboteur who worked against Nigeria’s economic interests for people who Congressman Perry has now exposed as funders of terror.
“Who should you believe? The answer is obvious. This is a pure case of corruption fighting back!”
Agbese to Gambaryan: You’ve seven days to retract your allegation or…
Agbese,in a statement yesterday challenged Gambaryan to provide evidence of his bribe allegation or face the consequences in court.
Agbese who said he was outraged by the allegations said:” I was not part of any meeting with any Binance executive regarding money for any purpose. The leadership of the Committee took the matter to court, and Binance has already apologized.
“Let it be on record that I am not a member of the Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes. I visited my colleague, Hon. Peter Akpanke, in his office, where he was meeting with some visitors about an activity of his Committee, with Hon. Peter Anakwe, a member of the Committee present. We exchanged pleasantries and, in character with my person as an avid pursuer of knowledge, discussed Binance’s activities that did not include any demand from anyone.
“It was during this visit to the office of Hon. Peter Ankpanke, with Hon. Peter Anekwe present, that he told me they were interfacing with Binance Team from abroad over a referral to their Committee. What transpired between the two of them and the Binance executive after I left the office is left to them. I never saw those visitors again after that chance meeting and did not afterwards attend any meeting with Binance executives, the EFCC, or the DSS.
“I am aware that when this issue was first raised, the Chairman of the Committee went to court and Binance apologised. So, all inquiries should be directed to the Committee, not to Hon. Philip Agbese.
“I have never used any cryptocurrency as I do not have a crypto wallet anywhere in the world, so I could not have asked for funds to be credited to a non-existent wallet.
“Gambaryan and his associate, who escaped from prison, should return to the EFCC and defend themselves. Instead of trying to implicate me, they should focus on addressing the allegations against them.
“As a consequence of the foregoing, I demand that Tigran Gambaryan publishes any evidence that links Hon. Philip Agbese to the issue. The man has spewed many other lies in his report about the government demanding information on opposition elements and other outrageous claims. I further demand that, failing to provide evidence as stated, Tigran Gambaryan must cause a retraction of his malicious claims and publication and apologise to me within the next seven days or face legal action from my lawyers.
“This is not the first allegation against me by a foreign entity. The first was that I work for the past government and the Armed Forces to promote Nigeria’s agenda, which shows the extent of desperation by entities that are interested in undermining public office holders they perceive as nationalistic.”
Agbese followed up with a WhatsApp message,saying: “”The fellow mentioned in his allegations that the Honourable members demanded for bribe from them and that it should be paid into their personal account.
“I want to state in my honour that I have no cryptocurrency account anywhere in the world. I have never transacted any business with any electronic currency since I was born and I challenge the accuser to supply the so-called crypto currency account belonging to me.”
Onwusibe: It’s a lie from the pit of hell
In his own response, Onwusibe said: “I had earlier refuted this last year as a lie from the pit of hell as I have had no personal contact with any Binance official even through phone.
“I have not. Well I won’t say much as I have sued them to court since last year for defamation so it doesn’t become subjudice.”
Efforts by our correspondent to reach Peter Akpanke yielded no fruit.
Calls to his mobile phone went unanswered while SMS and WhatsApp messages failed to go through.
