Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives conducted a raid on Thursday at the Dangote Group headquarters as part of an ongoing investigation into forex allocations in Nigeria, The Global News reports.
Upon reaching the conglomerate’s Lagos headquarters, the EFCC officials requested documents pertaining to the foreign exchange allocation to the group over the past decade.
According to a reliable sources, the anti graft agency meticulously examined the provided documents for hours, subsequently seizing some of them.
EFCC reportedly sent letters to 52 companies, instructing them to provide documents verifying the allocation and utilization of foreign currencies over the last decade.
This move is part of an ongoing investigation into alleged preferential Forex allocations by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele. Investigators have previously raised concerns about the CBN’s non-transparent allocation of foreign exchange, accusing it of favoring specific individuals and companies, leading to their enrichment.
In an unexpected turn of events, the EFCC conducted a raid on the Dangote Group headquarters on Thursday, despite the company’s initiative to submit boxes of documents to the anti-graft agency.
A source familiar with the matter stated, “The Dangote people informed the EFCC that the documents were ready and that they were bringing them over. However, the EFCC insisted that its operatives would prefer to come to the company to collect the documents.”
The source said such Gestapo tactics by the EFCC could discourage foreign investors from coming to Nigeria.
“The Dangote Group is perhaps Africa’s largest conglomerate and it is troubling that the EFCC could deal with it in an unnecessary show of force especially when it is not obstructing its investigation in any form,” the source added.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, refrained from commenting on the matter, stating he was in a meeting. Subsequent calls made to him went unanswered or unreturned.
Anthony Chiejina, the spokesperson for the Dangote Group, was unreachable for comment on this story.
Source: Premium Times