Dangote Addresses EFCC Visit: Business Mogul’s Official Response Unveiled

The investigation by the anti-graft agency is centered around the Dangote Group’s utilization of foreign exchange reportedly allocated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2014 to the present.

Earlier reports indicated that EFCC officials conducted a search at the Dangote Industries Limited headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, as part of the ongoing probe into the alleged misuse of foreign exchange allocations during the tenure of the immediate past CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

However, in an official statement released on Saturday, Dangote clarified, stating: “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 for the same information spanning the same period.”

He continued, “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.”

Dangote highlighted that despite their commitment to providing the requested information, the EFCC did not provide the clarification sought and declined their request for an extension, insisting on receiving the complete set of documents within a limited timeframe. He stated, “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.”

He emphasized, “We must emphasize that, to our knowledge, no accusations of wrongdoing have been made against any company within our Group. At present, we are only responding to a request for information to assist the EFCC with their ongoing investigation.”

Despite the attention garnered by this incident, Dangote reassured that the Dangote Group, as a law-abiding corporate entity, remains committed to providing the EFCC with all necessary information and cooperation. He asserted that the group has already submitted the first batch of documents and is actively working to compile and submit the remaining documents to aid the investigation.

Dangote further called for understanding and patience from stakeholders, pledging to keep them informed of any further developments in this matter.