1 week ago
32
Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu has been named alongside three Nigerian lawmakers by Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crime at leading crypto firm Binance, as Nigerian officials who demanded for $150 million bribe from him while he was detained in Nigeria for several months.
Recall that Gambaryan and another Binance official, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained by the Nigerian Government over allegations of money laundering and acts that facilitated the devaluation of the naira.
Following the arrest in February 2024 and Nadeem’s subsequent escape from detention, Gambaryan was released in October after the Nigerian government dropped the charges against him following the intervention of the US government.
It is worthy of note that while Gambaryan was in detention, he claimed some Nigerian lawmakers demanded millions in bribes from him to make the charges against him go away.
However, on Friday the Binance official made a tell all post on X where he doubled down on his earlier claim and named the lawmakers involved in demanding the bribe, also implicating Ribadu as a mastermind.
In the tweet, Gambaryan named Peter Akpanke, Philip Agbese and Ginger Obinna Onwusibe as the lawmakers who demanded the bribe.
In implicating Ribadu, Gambaryan claimed the NSA “emphasized that he wanted billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition.”
The Binance official also talked about how his colleague, Nadeem escaped from what he described as illegal detention, claiming the account made public by the Nigerian government was untrue.
The tell-all post started with Gambaryan explaining how the bribe was demanded. He wrote,
The DSS was involved in the House of Representatives matter. We met with them at their office on Friday, January 5, 2024, as a prerequisite to our meeting with the House of Representatives. They alluded to the fact that we had to comply with whatever the House members instructed us to do.
At the House meeting, there were three members present. Two of them were Peter Akpanke and Philip Agbese, both working under the leadership of Ginger Obinna Onwusibe. There was a third House member, but I don’t recall his name. They set up fake cameras and media to make the meeting appear official, but the cameras weren’t even plugged in. As you may already know, this ended with them asking for a $150 million bribe, paid in cryptocurrency into their personal wallets. A Mickey Mouse operation at its best.
@NuhuRibadu invited us to the official meeting and worked through Sa'ad Abubakar. Another key figure in this situation was Hamma Adama Belloji. Ogunjobi was just a pawn; they used him too. This was sold as a friendly meeting with the NSA, the head of the SEC, and the CBN governor and include the discussion of the bribe that was solicited by the House of Representatives.
Furthermore on the NSA’s alleged involvement in the saga, Gambaryan wrote,
Ribadu emphasized that he wanted billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition. However, when the corruption scandal came to light, he was trapped—because any settlement would now be perceived as a bribe. I guess he really wanted his boss' job :)
Ribadu even hired a U.S. law firm to negotiate my release, but this failed due to their incompetence and greed.
Ribadu overstepped his authority and embarrassed Nigeria in front of U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Ribadu acting like an asshole angered the White House and led to diplomatic repercussions—the U.S. limited visas to the Nigerian delegation for UNGA, and Biden refused to meet with Tinubu until my situation was resolved.
In the end, Ribadu overestimated his influence. They thought they could secure a quick win, but instead, they created an international incident, exposing his incompetence on a global scale.
Giving his account of how Nadeem escaped from detention, although admitting that his knowledge of the process was limited, Gambaryan wrote, “They lied about Nadeem escaping during mosque prayers.”
He added,
In reality, he returned and escaped afterward. I don’t know exactly how he managed to flee. He emailed me in November, but we haven’t discussed the details of his escape. It’s possible he paid someone off, but I have no proof. If Belloji had simply checked his passport for a visa, he would have realized that Nadeem did not use that passport to travel to Nigeria.
Nadeem did not escape lawful detention—we were being held illegally. Belloji even admitted that he would fabricate evidence to obtain a court order to detain us for 14 days.
There was a lot of noise about using Interpol to capture Nadeem. As someone who has been involved in multiple extradition cases, I can confidently say this was a joke. Extradition is a lengthy legal process, and no rational judge in Kenya or wherever would ever approve extradition for someone who escaped illegal detention at the hands of rogue law enforcement—especially when that detention involved holding employees hostage to pressure their employer. All noise.
They also detained innocent EFCC detectives who weren’t even present when Nadeem "escaped." If anyone should have been detained, it was Belloji, for multiple basic law enforcement failures, incompetence, and negligence- including:
.Failing to search our belongings
.Not checking passports for visas
.Neglecting to coordinate with immigration to issue travel restrictions or alerts
.Mismanaging the situation internationally, creating an unnecessary diplomatic crisis.
As of the time of filing this report, the top Nigerian officials named in Gambaryan’s allegations are yet to respond.
English (US) ·