The Dangote Group has raised concerns about the EFCC’s failure to provide clarification and refusal to grant an extension for submitting the company’s ten years’ foreign exchange records, following the recent raid of its Lagos headquarters.
Dangote Group disclosed that it responded to the EFCC to acknowledge receipt of the letter whilst seeking clarification on the subsidiaries within the Group that they required information on.EFCC conducted a raid on the Lagos headquarters of the Dangote Group on Thursday.The anti-graft agency is conducting an investigation on forex allocations to 52 companies including Dangote.
This is contained in a statement issued by the company on Sunday, December 7, 2023, wherein it allayed the fears of stakeholders over the development.
Last Thursday, EFCC operatives stormed Dangote Group’s head office, demanding documents relating to foreign exchange allocations it received from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The anti-graft agency is conducting an investigation on forex allocations to the company during the tenure of the erstwhile Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele. The EFCC had sent letters to 52 companies instructing them to provide documentation supporting the allocation and utilization of foreign currencies to them in the last 10 years.
Dangote Group disclosed that it responded to the EFCC to acknowledge receipt of the letter whilst seeking clarification on the subsidiaries or companies within the Group that they required information on.
The conglomerate also requested additional time to compile and properly present the extensive documentation spanning ten years.
What the Dangote group said:
“We responded to the EFCC to acknowledge receipt of the letter whilst seeking clarification on the subsidiaries or companies within the Group that they required information on. We also requested additional time to compile and properly present the extensive documentation spanning ten years,”
“The EFCC did not provide the clarification sought and also did not honour our request for an extension and insisted on receiving the complete set of documents within the limited timeframe. Despite this constraint, we assured the EFCC of our commitment to providing the information and pledged to share documents in batches as we complete the compilation.”
It added: “On 4 January 2024, our team delivered the first batch of documents to the EFCC. However, officers of the EFCC did not accept the documents, insisting on visiting our offices to collect the same set of documents directly,”
The Dangote Group stated that while their representatives were still at the EFCC’s office delivering the required documents, EFCC officers visited their offices in a manner seemingly intended to cause unwarranted embarrassment.
“Worthy of note is the fact that the officials did not take any documents or files from our Head office during their visit as these were already in their office,” it stated.
Last November, Dangote stated that a large sum of $687 million had been successfully repatriated through multiple Nigerian banks.
The company affirms its commitment to playing a significant role in boosting the domestic economy and expresses dedication to providing the EFCC with the required information and cooperation as a law-abiding and ethical corporate citizen.
On its part, the Dangote Group has staunchly defended itself against all accusations related to foreign exchange. Reportedly, the company had extended invitations to all relevant authorities to conduct a comprehensive investigation into its foreign exchange (FX) operations over the last decade and make any violations public.
Last November, Dangote stated that a large sum of $687 million had been successfully repatriated through multiple Nigerian banks.