Dangote speaks on reported EFCC raid on his conglomerate’s headquarters

Mr Dangote spoke publicly on the issue for the first time in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the reported raid by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives on the headquarters of his conglomerate in Lagos was intended to embarrass him and the business.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how EFCC operatives raided the headquarters of the Dangote Group in connection with an investigation into forex allocations in the country.

The newspaper reported that on arrival at the headquarters of one of Africa’s largest conglomerates in Lagos, the EFCC operatives demanded documents relating to allocation of foreign exchange to the group in the last ten years.

Mr Dangote spoke publicly on the issue for the first time in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday. He said it was not a raid but a mere visit.

“The office really was not raided. They visited the office, and they didn’t talk to anybody. They did not arrest anybody, they just came, and left, just to register an embarrassment, and that’s all,” Mr Dangote said.

He also emphasised his company’s reputation as the highest tax-paying organisation in Nigeria, adding that the Dangote Group paid more taxes than the entire Nigerian banking sector in the year 2023.

“But, you know, the way we run our organisation, and that is why when you look at it, we’re the highest tax paying corporation in Nigeria. Our company paid in 2023 more taxes than the entire banking industry.

“And, that is why in whatever that we do, because we know that we are up there, anybody, whether it’s a new government or whatever happens, we’re the first port of call, so that’s why our own behavior has to be 100 per cent clean,” he said.

PREMIUM TIMES had learnt from sources that during the EFCC operatives’ visit to Dangote Group in January, they demanded and scrutinised the documents provided by officials, carting some of them away.

This newspaper learnt that the EFCC had written to 52 companies directing them to supply documents supporting the allocation and utilization of foreign currencies to them in the last 10 years.

The EFCC letter to the companies was part of an investigation into alleged preferential Forex allocations to individuals and organisations by the Godwin Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria.

Mr Dangote confirmed during the Bloomberg interview that the EFCC operatives’ enquiries centred on forex allocation but insisted that no wrongdoing was found against the company.

“The issue is that there was nothing. You know, they came to us, and said ‘Okay, fine, we are looking for some documents,’. I said, ‘what are those documents? ‘You know, your bidding in terms of foreign exchange,’. ;You know, we have these things, but you’re asking for 15 years documents, we have them’. So, we sent the people out there to go and take (get) the documents, and (they) said, ‘no, no, go back, we will come to your office’. You know, and before we knew it, they were already in our office.”

CBN, particularly under the leadership of Mr Emefiele, has been accused of favouring and enriching some individuals and companies through non-transparent allocation of foreign exchange to them.

In December 2023, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the forensic audit of the CBN under Mr Emefiele uncovered 593 bank accounts domiciled in the United States, the United Kingdom and China in which Nigerian funds were deposited without authorisation from the board and investment committee of the apex bank.

The special investigator revealed that the sum of 543.4 million pounds was kept by Mr Emefiele in fixed deposit accounts, adding that the ex-CBN chief manipulated the naira exchange rate and committed fraud in the e-Naira project.