Proceedings Have Been Fair, Open To You — President Tinubu’s Aide Tasks Binance To Answer Its Case
The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Digital/New Media, O’tega Ogra, has urged the controversial cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, to be bold enough to answer the case preferred against it by the federal government of Nigeria.
Ogra said this while reacting to Binance’s bribe claim in a post on his Twitter handle on Wednesday.
The Chief Executive Officer of the popular cryptocurrency trading platform, Richard Teng, had earlier alleged that some unknown Nigerian officials demanded the sum of $150m in cryptocurrency from Binance to resolve the ongoing criminal investigation against the company.
The Nigerian Voice reported earlier that the federal government through a statement from the Minister of Information and National Orientation, denied the claim, describing it as diversionary.
On his part, Ogra also dismissed the claim, noting that proceedings on the investigation against Binance have been fair and open thus far.
He said, “Whilst conversations on this Binance allegations continue, it is important to distinguish and draw distinctions between two different issues here.
“The first is that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) is investigating and prosecuting Binance for alleged economic crimes that have national security implications. For what it is worth, ONSA has meticulously followed the law to the letter in handling the case. Every step taken by ONSA was done with prior approval from the courts, which is commendable.
“The second issue is that if Binance claims it was approached for a bribe by anyone, then Binance had a duty to report it to the appropriate law enforcement agency in Nigeria (such as the EFCC) when it happened. In my opinion, Nigerian anti-corruption agencies can effectively deal with such issues, as their records demonstrate. However, this allegation should not prevent ONSA from continuing with its prosecution. This is solely my personal opinion.
“As someone who has led strategic communications at the highest level on the corporate side, I believe that the Binance CEO's recent actions serve one of two purposes for Binance. It may be an attempt to improve/launder the company's damaged and battered reputation, as it has faced a series of legal troubles in various jurisdictions due to Binance’s own actions and non-compliance with extant laws. Alternatively, it could be an effort by Binance to distract and divert attention from the case's central issue (whose details are public records) to push for an alternate resolution.
“Let Binance answer its case. They should have nothing to fear if they have no skeletons in their cupboard, especially since the proceedings have been fair and open thus far.”