Binance official: Ribadu demanded bribe from us to fund political ambition

An executive of Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan, has accused the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, of demanding a bribe from the cryptocurrency platform to fund his political ambition.

Gambaryan said the bribe was demanded by Ribadu to lay to rest the dispute between Binance and the federal government.

The federal government had in 2024 accused Binance of manipulating foreign exchange rates in Nigeria and destroying the country’s economy.

Gambaryan and the Binance Regional Manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were arrested in February 2024 when they visited Nigeria for a meeting with government officials.

The Binance officials were later arraigned by the federal government over allegations of money laundering and tax evasion.

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Anjarwalla thereafter escaped from custody, while Gambaryan faced prosecution in Nigeria.

In October 2024, Gambaryan was released after the federal government dropped charges, following the intervention of the United States government.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, February 14, 2025, Gambaryan said Ribadu, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), demanded “billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition”.

He wrote: “@NuhuRibadu invited us to the official meeting and worked through Sa’ad Abubakar. Another key figure in this situation was Hamma Adama Belloji. Ogunjobi was just a pawn; they used him too. This was a sold as a friendly meeting with the NSA, the head of the SEC, and the CBN governor and include the discussion of the bribe that was solicited by the house of representatives.

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The $26 billion figure they kept pushing publicly as some mystery money escaping Nigeria is complete BS. This information was provided in response to their request and was simply cumulative trade data for Nigerians on the platform. This money didn’t leave Nigeria – it was just people buying and selling crypto.

“For example, if you trade $100 a hundred times, that’s $10,000 in trade volume, but in reality, you only used $100. Again, just another example of them lying to cover up their BS investigation.

“They lied about Nadeem escaping during mosque prayers. In reality, he returned and escaped afterward. I don’t know exactly how he managed to flee. He emailed me in November, but we haven’t discussed the details of his escape. It’s possible he paid someone off, but I have no proof. If Belloji had simply checked his passport for a visa, he would have realized that Nadeem did not use that passport to travel to Nigeria.

“They sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy and the British High Commission, falsely claiming that we were voluntarily participating in strategic talks. This was a blatant lie.

“Nadeem did not escape lawful detention – we were being held illegally. Belloji even admitted that he would fabricate evidence to obtain a court order to detain us for 14 days. Once the court order expired, they were unable to get an extension from the judge. At that point, they continued holding us illegally and had no justification for doing so.”

Gambaryan added: “Ribadu emphasized that he wanted billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition. However, when the corruption scandal came to light, he was trapped—because any settlement would now be perceived as a bribe. I guess he really wanted his boss’ job:)

“Ribadu even hired a U.S. law firm to negotiate my release, but this failed due to their incompetence and greed.

“Ribadu overstepped his authority and embarrassed Nigeria in front of U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Ribadu acting like an asshole angered the White House and led to diplomatic repercussions—the U.S. limited visas to the Nigerian delegation for UNGA, and Biden refused to meet with Tinubu until my situation was resolved.

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“In the end, Ribadu overestimated his influence. They thought they could secure a quick win, but instead, they created an international incident, exposing his incompetence on a global scale.

“That’s it’s for me for now. I don’t want to dwell on this, but it’s important for Nigerians to get the facts. I met amazing people in Nigeria. It’s a shame that these muppets are in charge.”

The Star