Nigeria dismisses Binance CEO's bribery allegations as "Diversionary Tactic"

Tensions are increasing between Nigerian authorities and Binance, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, as the Nigerian government refutes allegations of bribery levelled by Binance's CEO, Richard Teng.

In a recent blog post, Teng accused unidentified Nigerian officials of demanding a $150 million cryptocurrency bribe to halt ongoing investigations against the company.

Nigerian Information Ministry spokesperson Rabiu Ibrahim dismissed these claims, calling them baseless and a part of a larger scheme aimed at undermining the country's legal proceedings.

The rift between Nigeria and Binance deepened after criminal charges were brought against the exchange and two of its executives, citing tax evasion and money laundering exceeding $35 million.

Despite Binance's vigorous defence against these charges, Tigran Gambaryan, the company's head of financial crime compliance, remains in custody, while Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan executive, has fled the country.

The Nigerian government perceives Binance's bribery allegations as an attempt to divert attention from the serious legal consequences that the company faces within the country.

According to Ibrahim, Nigeria maintains that Binance is under investigation for facilitating money laundering, terrorism financing, and illegal foreign exchange manipulation through its platform.

He said that the government will uphold the rule of law and ensure accountability, dismissing Binance's accusations as a manoeuvre to evade accountability for criminal activities.

The Nigerian authorities assert that Binance's bribery claims are part of a bigger campaign to discredit ongoing investigations, drawing parallels with similar legal challenges encountered by the exchange in the US.

While Binance refrained from commenting on Nigeria's rebuttal, the exchange previously criticised the Nigerian government's handling of the situation.

Binance highlighted concerns over the detention of its executives following purported discussions with Nigerian officials, characterising it as a crackdown on the crypto industry.

The escalating dispute has already seen Binance suspend operations in Nigeria, a move that elicited further criticism from Nigerian authorities attributing cryptocurrency trading to the country's currency woes amidst dollar shortages.

(With inputs from Reuters)