₦airaland Forum

The federal government of Nigeria has debunked allegations that the health of a United States Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan is deteriorating while in custody at Kuje Correctional Service.

Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation issued the rebuttal in a statement on Friday.

Without stating who he was referring to, his statement may not be unconnected with the recent post by two US Members of Congress, Representative French Hill (Republican) and Representative Chrissy Houlahan (Democrat) who visited Gambaryan at the Kuje Detention facility on June 19th 2024 and posted a video of the visit on X page calling for his release.

Gambaryan alongside Binance are being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations bordering on money laundering and foreign exchange contravention.

FG’s position on Gambaryan

In his statement, Idris advised those concerned to note that Gambaryan’s detention is based on an order of court.

The ministry explained that while the client is held in lawful custody, he has access to healthcare.

“It has become necessary for the Federal Government of Nigeria to address claims that Binance Executive, Tigran Gambaryan is being held in unsavoury prison conditions in Nigeria, or that his health is deteriorating.

“We would like to state that these allegations are false and should be ignored.

“Gambaryan is being held in lawful detention and has access to quality medical care whenever required,” Idris stated.

The minister stated that Gambaryan also has full access to consular services from his home government, assuring that the Federal Government will not do anything to jeopardize his fundamental rights to lawful trial, and to quality care, including healthcare, even as he undergoes trial by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ministry stressed further,

“It is worth reiterating that his detention is a court-ordered one, and only the court can alter the terms or direct his release.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria will continue to follow due process in its quest to bring Binance to justice — a legitimate sovereign quest that is similarly being pursued in several other countries around the world.

“This adherence to legal and diplomatic standards underscores Nigeria’s dedication to upholding justice and maintaining the integrity of its judicial processes. The executive is being treated with the utmost fairness, and his legal and human rights are being protected throughout the judicial proceedings.

Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki had called on the EFCC to free her husband like the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS) did recently.

The lawmakers backed her, saying Tigran has devoted his professional life to fighting money laundering and tax evasion, having spent ten years as an IRS Special Agent where he successfully led cyber and financial crime investigations.

At today’s proceedings, a director at the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Abdulkadir Abbas, continued his testimonies in EFCC’s case against Binance and Gambaryan, insisting that the cryptocurrency platform was not registered to operate in Nigeria.

The matter was further adjourned to July 1 for continuation of cross-examination.

More insights
SEC is a Federal Government agency that carries out registration of all capital market stakeholders, instruments to be traded on the market, and all the trading platforms.

In addition, the SEC makes rules and regulations on the capital market, conducts investigations, investigates enforcement as well as monitors the market.

Abbas, who had identified himself as Director, of Exchanges and Market Infrastructure (SEC), told Justice Emeka Nwite that the Naira P2P feature deployed by Binance as well as the number of people on the platform “adversely affected the official exchange rate.”

Nairametrics reports that a popular method of buying and selling crypto is through Peer-to-peer, otherwise known as P2P.

The seller and buyer are connected in what can be likened to a marketplace.

Binance and its executives are faced with two separate suits by the FIRS and EFCC; the former bordering on tax evasion while the latter on money laundering and foreign exchange contravention.

Nairametrics recalls that the executives have also instituted a fundamental rights case against agencies of the Nigerian government, citing a violation of their constitutional right to liberty but that of Anjarwallan was struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.

On February 28, Nigerian authorities detained the two senior Binance executives.

While FIRS has dropped its charges against Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, EFCC is apparently moving on with its case as of now.

Nairametrics gathered from sources that the EFCC believes Gambaryan and Nadeem allegedly played a role in its money laundering allegations.

Meanwhile, amid the development, several US political stakeholders are pressing its government to compel the Nigerian government to free Gambaryan.

The Federal Government has begun the proposed audit of the N2.7tn fuel subsidy claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, The PUNCH has learnt.

An audit firm, KPMG had conducted an initial audit reducing the claims from N6tn to N2.7tn.

However, in the new audit, the government said it had approved the engagement of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation to verify the claims made by the corporation regarding the amount the government owes the oil firm.

This process was confirmed by the Director, Home Finance, Ali Mohammed, during the April 2024 Federal Account Allocation Committee meeting.

The government said an update on the issue would be provided during the May FAAC meeting.

The PUNCH had reported last month that the audit would span from 2015 to 2021, aiming to verify the authenticity of NNPC/Federation Account claims on the N2.7tn while it considered hiring an external audit firm.

On May 30, 2023, a few hours after the “subsidy is gone” declaration by President Bola Tinubu, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, told State House correspondents that the federal government still owes the firm the sum of N2.8tn spent on petrol subsidy.

While saying the NNPCL footed petrol subsidy bills from its cash flow, Kyari said the government had so far been unable to pay back the N2.8tn.

He said “Since the provision of the N6tn in 2022, and N3.7tn in 2023, we have not have not received any payment whatsoever from the Federation.

“That means they (the Federal Government) are unable to pay and we’ve continued to support this subsidy from the cash flow of the NNPC. We are waiting for them to settle up to N2.8tn of NNPC’s cash flow from the subsidy regime and we can’t continue to build this.”

However, a copy of the minutes of the FAAC meeting obtained by our correspondent, however, revealed that the government had begun the audit of the N2.6tn subsidy claim.

The minute read in part, “On the forensic audit covering the period 2015 to 2021 to authenticate NNPC/Federation claims in respect of N2.7tn withheld by NNPC Limited: The Director, Home Finance informed members that the process of the forensic audit of NNPC Limited as reported at the last meeting was in progress. He assured that an update would be provided on the matter at the next meeting.”

Members of the committee also bemoaned the refusal of the NNPCL to comply with the revised exchange rate of N693.50/$1 in converting federation revenue.

According to them, NNPCL has declined to adhere to the revision of the May 2023 Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate from N436.38/$1 to N621.86/$1, and subsequently to N693.50/$1, as instructed by the CBN.

On the refusal by NNPC Ltd to comply with the revised exchange rate of N693.50/$1 in converting Federation revenue, the Vice Chairman, Post-Mortem Sub-committee, warned that “If NNPC Ltd continues to disregard the use of the agreed rate without presenting any authority to that effect, FAAC will be left with no option but to take appropriate action to recover the Federation funds.”

The minute further read, “At the last meeting of FAAC, it was reported that there was a review of the May 2023 CBN Exchange rate from N436.38/$1 to N621.86/$1 and a further review to N693.50/$1 in line with the directive of CBN. NNPCL was directed to comply with the revised exchange rate of N693.50/$1 and re-compute all the Royalties, Taxes and other revenue items for May 2023 and revert.”

The official informed the meeting that at the April 2024 meeting of the sub-committee, NNPCL complained that the proposed review would result in a refund of N16,829,747,742.96 to the Federation Account by the company.

He concluded that the sub-committee expected that the Federation Account be refunded the amount of the exchange rate but NNPCL used it to defray the subsidy claim. He recommended that FAAC should decide on the matter.

He recalled that the sub-committee had reported the implication of the “weighted average rate” on PMS computation and discovered that the exchange rate differential for the period of June to December 2023 was N937,961,442,969.83, contrary to the NNPCL claim of N1,675,920,811,819.

He stated that the Sub-committee recognised only the exchange rate that was backed by law and that NNPCL was mandated to provide authorisation for the use of weighted average exchange rate on PMS Dollar payments. He disclosed that NNPCL in response, requested the Sub-committee to write the company officially to enable the release of the NEC approval on the issue.

He suggested that NNPC Ltd should be called to order and hoped that the matter could be resolved amicably with the company.

The Oyo State Commissioner for Finance, Akinola Ojo, also proposed that NNPC Ltd should be made to refund the money even if by next month, a resolution could not be reached on the issue.