‘No accusations of wrongdoing’ — Dangote clarifies EFCC visit amid forex probe

Dangote Group has provided clarifications on the recent raid by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of its office, reiterating its commitment to providing full cooperation.

On January 1, 2023, EFCC operatives visited the head office of Dangote Group in Lagos.

The search followed the probe of 52 companies by the anti-graft agency over forex transactions in the last 10 years.

The commission is investigating forex allocations to these companies during the tenure of Godwin Emefiele as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Commenting on the situation in a statement on Saturday, the Dangote Group said prior to the raid, attempts to seek clarifications on why the documents were requested proved abortive.

The group also said it sought an extension.

The company added that it is currently responding to “a request for information to assist the EFCC with their ongoing investigation”.

“Following the widely reported recent visit of the officials of the EFCC to our headquarters in Lagos on 4 January 2024, we understand the concern and interest this has generated among our valued partners, stakeholders, and the public, and consider it necessary to provide a factual account of the events,” the statement reads. 

“On 6 December 2023, we received a letter requesting details of all the foreign exchange allocated to our company by the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2014 to the present. 

“We understand similar letters were sent to 51 other Groups of companies requesting the same information spanning the same period.

“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.

“However, 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.”

‘ATTEMPTS TO DELIVER FIRST BATCH OF DOCUMENT REJECTED’

According to the conglomerate, the requested documents initially provided to the EFCC were rejected. 

“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 company added. 

“Whilst our representatives were still at the EFCC’s office to deliver the documents, a team of their officers proceeded to visit our offices to demand for the same documents in a manner that appeared designed to cause us 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.”

The company, however said efforts have been made to deliver the first batch of documents, adding that they “are actively working to compile and submit the remaining documents, in good time, to aid their investigation”. 

“We must emphasize that, to our knowledge, no accusations of wrongdoing have been made against any company within our Group,” the company said.

“At present, we are only responding to a request for information to assist the EFCC with their ongoing investigation.

“As a law-abiding and ethical corporate citizen, we remain committed to providing the EFCC with all necessary information and cooperation.”

Dangote Group therefore asked stakeholders to remain understanding and patient while the matter is being resolved.