Binance Bribe Controversy: Nigerian govt accuses Gambaryan of spreading falsehood

The Nigerian government says the corruption allegations levelled against its senior officials by Binance’s head of financial crime, Tigran Gambaryan, are false.

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, in a Friday statement, said 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.”

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Gambaryan accused Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, of seeking to personally benefit from Nigeria’s dispute with Binance.

The crypto firm’s official also claimed that Mr Ribadu hired a US law firm to negotiate his release from detention while in Nigerian custody but the move failed due to their “incompetence and greed”.Mr Gambaryan, who was detained in Nigeria for several months, made these allegations on Friday in a series of post on X.

“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,” Mr Idris wrote in his statement. He added that the government is reluctant to engage Mr Gambaryan giving the high-level of diplomatic intervention that resolved his case.

In his posts, the Binance official mentioned the names of Nigerian lawmakers who allegedly demanded a $150 million bribe from him to stave off his arrest and prosecution.

Mr Idris, in his response, said the government investigated the allegations against the lawmakers. He, however, did not state the outcome of the investigation.

The Arrests

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Gambaryan and another Binance official, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained last year by the Nigerian government which accused their firm of money laundering and encouraging criminality in Nigeria.

While Mr Anjarwalla escaped custody in March, Mr Gambaryan was detained until October 2024, when Nigeria dropped the charges against him following the US government’s intervention.

Narrating his ordeal and Nigeria’s interaction with the US, the American said Mr Ribadu’s actions angered the US government.

He also alleged that Mr Ribadu, a highly decorated former anti-corruption chief, sought to profit from the controversy.

“Ribadu emphasized that he wanted billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition,” he claimed.

Earlier today, PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the NSA’s spokesperson, Zakari Mijinyawa, for a reaction to the allegations. He did not return calls nor reply to WhatsApp messages sent to him.

In his tweet, the American also accused the Nigerian government of demanding citizens’ data from cryptocurrency companies to target members of opposition political parties.

“They tried to use us (Binance) to violate international privacy laws by demanding user data on all Nigerians to target opposition members allegedly ‘manipulating the price of the naira,” he said.

However, Mr Idris dismissed all the allegations as false.

“… 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,” Mr Idris said.