A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER), has accused Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan of attempting to incite unrest in Nigeria by inciting bribery allegations against some members of the National Assembly and government officials in the country.
Gambaryan who was on trial for financial crimes in Nigeria, alleged that three members of the House of Representatives, the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), demanded bribe from him.
However, COTER in a statement by its President, Dr. Peter Chima Chukwu and General Secretary, Mallam Auta Ibrahim Koko, accused the Americans of working with some Nigerian politicians and their foreign collaborators to cause unrest and destabilise the country.
The group stated that Gambaryan’s bribery allegations were aimed at instigating widespread hatred for the NSA, the security agencies and President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“The company’s major aim and objective is to sabotage and destabilise Nigeria,” COTER said.
It described the allegations as “unfounded and unsubstantiated,” saying that the Binance executive and his collaborators “meant much more than just the corruption allegations.”
The group noted that Binance has been banned and heavily fined by courts in many countries across the world, for various illegalities, gross infractions and financial crimes perpetrated through its notorious operations.
It stated that the Nigerian government and the three lawmakers mentioned by Gambaryan in the allegation have swiftly denied the allegations as baseless and false.
“Also, the two Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigators mentioned by Gambaryan, Saad Abubakar and Bello Hamma-Adama, we have discovered, were uncompromising and very professional in their conduct throughout their investigation of the Binance officials, contrary to the wild allegations now made against them.
“In fact, the two EFCC officers were very thorough and effective in detecting all the infractions, vices and financial crimes perpetrated by Binance against Nigeria,” COTER defended.
The group stated that mentioning Ribadu in the bribery allegation was a figment of Binance and Gambaryan’s imaginations, noting that the NSA had no direct contact with either Binance or Gambaryan before and throughout the period of his detention in Nigeria.
“So, his claim that Ribadu needed money to prosecute an election during that period is hollow and doesn’t have any iota of truth.
“There was in fact, no election ahead for Ribadu or anyone to contest during that period. So, this allegation is unfounded, a blatant lie by Gambaryan,” it added.
The coalition therefore challenged Binance and Gambaryan to prove their corruption allegations against Nigerians, a failure of which the government should not hesitate to activate appropriate diplomatic actions for redress.
The coalition called on the Federal Government to immediately launch comprehensive investigations to uncover the identities of the Nigerian citizens working with Binance for appropriate punishment.
“We believe that the various security agencies should be given the clearance and authorisation to perform their constitutional duty of investigating, arresting and questioning all those suspected of colluding with Binance to tarnish Nigeria’s image, no matter how highly placed they may be.
“If found wanting, they must be punished appropriately,” the group demanded.
