The house of representatives has denied demanding bribe from Binance, a popular cryptocurrency platform.
The cryptocurrency giant had claimed on Tuesday that some unknown persons in Nigeria demanded huge payments in digital currency to make their “problems in the country go away”.
Back story
The federal government detained two top executives of Binance as part of a probe bordering on illegal operations in the country and foreign exchange rate manipulations on February 28.
The detained executives included Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s regional manager for Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance.
The government, on March 25, filed a criminal charge against Binance for “tax evasion” — the same period Anjarwalla fled detention.
Denial
During plenary session on Wednesday, Kama Nkemkanma from Ebonyi state, raised a “point of privilege”, saying the house never met with Binance and no bribe has ever been demanded.
This house can never allow itself to be talked down,” he said.
The lawmaker said the allegation is capable of “bringing the house into disrepute” and should “never be taken lightly”.
Ruling on the point of privilege, Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, said the clerk should “take note”.
“We need to use whatever media available to us to refute this allegation,” Abbas said.
“Nothing like that has ever happened. No committee of the house has ever engaged this man.”
