The Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, has said that the cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, had a turnover of over $20 billion in Nigeria in 2023 alone.
Idris made this disclosure in a statement on Wednesday conveyed by his spokesperson, Rabiu Ibrahim, reacting to the claim that the executive of the crypto platform was illegally held in the country.
According to the Minister, this turnover by Binance was neither taxed by the government, and it is more than Nigeria’s budget for education and health.
Furthermore, he pointed out that Binance has faced legal action and penalties in North America, Europe, and Asia, with some of its representatives being imprisoned, fined, sanctioned, or banned in recent years.
“It would be recalled that Binance had a turnover in Nigeria of over US$20 billion in 2023 alone, far above the federal budget for health and education, fueling currency speculation and the cost-of-living crisis.
“In addition, it is not registered in Nigeria and neither has it ever paid any taxes within the Nigerian jurisdiction, having all the while operated without oversight or any of the normal guard rails to flag criminal activity.
“Idris said it is important that Binance is prefaced as an entity whose representatives have been variously imprisoned, fined, sanctioned, and banned in North America, Europe, and Asia, in recent years,” Mohammed said.
Allegations of hostage taking
In a letter dated July 4 to president Joe Biden, 16 congressmen in the United States, led by Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul, accused Nigeria of holding Binance Holdings Ltd. Executive Tigran Gambaryan “hostage.”
The lawmakers requested that Biden, move the case of Gambaryan to be referred to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
Gambaryan, a US citizen, is the head of financial crime compliance at Binance. He has been detained at a prison in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, since April.
“The charges against Mr. Gambaryan are baseless and constitute a coercion tactic by the Nigerian government to extort his employer, Binance.
“Following these charges, Mr. Gambaryan qualifies as a ‘U.S. Citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government,’” they said.
Backstory
On February 28, Nairametrics reported that Nigeria officials detained two senior Binance executives: Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan who serves as the regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American in charge of financial crime compliance at Binance.
The executives visited Nigeria in response to the country’s recent crackdown on various cryptocurrency trading platforms.
During their stay, they were apprehended by the Office of the National Security Adviser and their passports were confiscated.
In response to the detention of its executives, Binance discontinued the trading of the naira against bitcoin and tether cryptocurrencies on its exchange.
Meanwhile, on March 24, a statement from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) confirmed that one of the executives, Anjarwalla subsequently escaped from lawful custody.
The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner.
