Operatives of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday raided the Lagos headquarters of Africa’s leading conglomerate, Dangote Group, demanding documents on foreign exchange allocations over the past decade.
Sources disclosed that upon arrival, EFCC officials requested for paperwork detailing Dangote’s $10 billion forex allotments from the Central Bank of Nigeria spanning 10 years. After perusing submitted documents for hours, operatives carted some away for further investigation.
The raid is part of an ongoing EFCC probe of alleged illicit forex deals under ex-CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele who purportedly enriched selective individuals and corporates via non-transparent dollar allocations.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-2023028789149162&output=html&h=250&slotname=5559997686&adk=610114521&adf=792966958&pi=t.ma~as.5559997686&w=300&lmt=1704405591&format=300×250&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2Fefcc-operatives-storm-dangote-hq-demand-10-year-forex-documents%2F&ea=0&wgl=1&dt=1704419404939&bpp=11&bdt=16779&idt=11&shv=r20240103&mjsv=m202401020101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dd335da84847ee286-22d05e5a5ce0008d%3AT%3D1695518500%3ART%3D1704419393%3AS%3DALNI_MbwkbTXmJpom3vaRNuIOuU8HVmaiQ&gpic=UID%3D00000cad587b302e%3AT%3D1695518500%3ART%3D1704419393%3AS%3DALNI_MaReyrg7azdqw1XaJfoccSbd-PXlQ&prev_fmts=696×174%2C696x174%2C0x0%2C728x90%2C468x60&nras=1&correlator=7634642915094&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1408494490.1695426560&ga_sid=1704419393&ga_hid=1058227879&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=13&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&adx=141&ady=1775&biw=1349&bih=615&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759876%2C44759927%2C95320239%2C44795921%2C44809530&oid=2&psts=AOrYGskwE7DUV0YZlsJVqaDbBijd_ec7O89j1eu6AQdAKwgkZiXQHOkL05dY7_wd05ncbBPpfUZGWhtlZqb_ycw%2CAOrYGsm1wQgG01NVXKqKQJJ39uEg40BpCYMB9rxS9cccAHsti89bwb67de6UGpbFh1WK1TfJoEeaAPQbHEC1q-M&pvsid=1359057332224189&tmod=1664014251&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2F&fc=896&brdim=-8%2C-8%2C-8%2C-8%2C1366%2C0%2C1382%2C744%2C1366%2C615&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CleEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=0&bc=31&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=4&fsb=1&dtd=23
Earlier, the anti-graft agency had written 52 companies to furnish forex allotment approvals and utilization specs from the past decade. While most complied, Dangote notified EFCC that required documents were set for delivery.
In a surprising turn, EFCC operatives stormed the corporate headquarters themselves to retrieve the documents instead. Our source deemed the aggressive tactic as detrimental for foreign investment, especially against Africa’s leading conglomerate fully cooperating in the probe.
An EFCC spokesman declined immediate comment when contacted. Also, a spokesperson for the Dangote Group could not be reached as of press time.
The CBN forex probe has been ongoing since damning revelations last December over Emefiele’s alleged manipulation of naira rates and unauthorized transfers of Central Bank funds into 593 foreign accounts.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyer