EFCC raids Dangote office over forex transactions

The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are currently raiding the head office of the Dangote Group in Lagos over forex transactions with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It was gathered that the EFCC officers are conducting a search on forex allocations to Dangote Group during the tenure of Godwin Emefiele as the CBN Governor.

EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, declined comments on the development.

But the development was confirmed to The Star on Thursday by top officials of the anti-graft agency, who craved anonymity.

“Our operatives are on a search of the company. So many things went wrong with the forex transactions under the CBN. Dangote Group is one of the beneficiaries of forex deals by the CBN. So we are looking into the books because of discoveries of illegal transactions. So it is part of the probe of CBN under Emefiele,” he said.

The source added that the anti-graft is probing the utilisation of forex made available to Dangote for the refinery project.

Another source told The Star that several other companies are being probed over the forex transactions.

It was gathered that the raid may not be unconnected to the activities of Jim Obazee investigative team appointed by President Bola Tinubu to examine past financial malfeasances in the CBN as part of measures to fortify Government Business Entities (GBEs).

The invetigative team was mandated to take steps to ensure the strengthening and probity of key GBEs, further block leakages in CBN and related GBEs, and provide a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments (whether private or public).

Details later…

The Star