Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The federal government has disclosed that it is demanding at least $10 billion as retribution from Binance for profiting from “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.
Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in an interview with the BBC, on Friday.
The development comes amid a crackdown on cryptocurrency exchange platforms, including Binance, by the federal government.
Federal government had reportedly detained two top executives of Binance on February 28, 2024 over allegations of price manipulations.
Speaking during the interview, Onanuga said the cryptocurrency platform is causing massive losses for “fixing exchange rates.”
He said the federal government is seeking such retribution from Binance for also fixing foreign exchange rates on its peer-to-peer platform.
“The platform fixes the exchange rate for the country and it is an illegal rate. The CBN is the only authority that can fix the exchange rate for the country.
“Binance platform harbours people who fix the exchange rate which quickly affects the Nigerian economy for the time when Nigeria is trying to stabilise the economy.
“Binance staff cooperated with the government to provide information,” he said.
Prior to the interview, Onanuga had said Binance would destroy Nigeria’s economy if the federal government did not clamp down on the company.
On June 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the operations of Binance Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Binance, were illegal.
Speaking on the infractions by the cryptocurrency exchange platform, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, on February 27, 2024 said $26 billion passed through Binance Nigeria from unidentified sources in one year.
Cardoso said the apex bank is collaborating with the SEC to eliminate price manipulations in the forex market.
The CBN had on February 20 announced a partnership with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to investigate and penalise those involved in illicit activities within the forex market.
