Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday were at the headquarters of Dangote Industries Limited in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The visit was in furtherance of the ongoing investigation into the alleged abuse of the foreign exchange allocations by Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The anti-graft commission is probing the alleged preferential allocations of forex to the Dangote Group owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote and 51 other companies under the Emefiele-led CBN.
Two senior officials of the EFCC confirmed the presence of the anti-graft operatives at the Dangote but declined to speak on the reason for their presence.
One of the officials said, “I can confirm that our men are there, but I can’t comment on the reason for their presence there.”
Sources said the anti-graft commission had earlier written to the 52 companies directing them to provide documents supporting the allocation and utilisation of foreign exchange sold to them at official rates in the last 10 years.
The EFCC had asked the firms to submit Form A and Form M which detailed the forex allocations to them between 2014 and June 2023.
But while some companies complied with the directive, several others were said to have asked for time to get the proper documents.
Until June 2023, Nigeria operated multiple exchange rates which economists said contributed to the distortions in forex allocation, market volatility, and fluctuations.
The policy was blamed for the inflationary pressures on the naira and the thriving black market activities which were said to have undermined the effectiveness of the CBN monetary policies.
The surprise operation at the Dangote headquarters which was carried out by the EFCC detectives during working hours shocked the staff and jolted the visitors to the building.
According to sources, the search commenced at about 3pm and lasted for several hours.
During the raid, the operatives ransacked offices and carted away several financial documents related to forex allocations to the group from 2014 to June 2023, when Emefiele was suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu.
A top EFCC official revealed that the EFCC was probing the preferential foreign exchange allocations allegedly made by Emefiele in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and the CBN Act.
The official claimed, “The EFCC is investigating the Dangote Group over the preferential foreign exchange allocations made by the former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and in disregard to the CBN Act.
“There are about 51 other big companies under probe over the development too, and the commission discovered that the allocations were not approved by the former President Muhammadu Buhari, so it was more of a means for the former CBN governor and his cronies to launder money through forex and Bureau De Change operators.”
When contacted the spokesman for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, declined comment on the raid on the Dangote headquarters.
Dangote Industries’ spokesperson, Sunday Esan, did not respond to phone calls or WhatsApp messages sent to him.
Two other officials in the communications department of the company, Anthony Chiejina and Francis Browne, have yet to respond to calls and messages sent to them as of the time of filing this report.
Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, a platform tracking daily changes in net worth among high-net-worth individuals globally, revealed that Dangote slid to the second position after experiencing a reduction in wealth from $13.5bn in 2023 to $9.7bn as of January 4, 2024, marking a $3.8bn loss. (Punch)
