The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has shed more light on its decision to visit the headquarters of the Dangote Group in Lagos.
It would be recalled that last week Thursday, operatives of the EFCC stormed the Lagos Head Office of the Dangote Group.
The visit is understood to be related to the forex allocations to the group from 2015 to the time Godwin Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a reaction to the visit, the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, denied any wrongdoing and expressed his willingness to collaborate with the anti-graft agency in helping with its investigations.
However, a source in the EFCC, which was quoted on the matter by The Nation, confirmed that the anti-graft agency visited Dangote Group Headquarters with a search warrant for some vital documents on forex allocations to the company from 2014 to 2023 during the tenure of former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
The source disclosed that EFCC operatives decided to visit the Dangote office because the company was not forthcoming with the documents it was requested to provide.
The source, however, stated that the visit was not a raid as the EFCC visited the company with a search warrant and also allowed staff, customers and visitors to go in and out of the place.
He added that the visit was justified because its operatives were “able to get the vital documents they wanted.”
The EFCC said it would not join issues with the company but asked Nigerians to wait for the outcome of the investigation.
“We did not storm or raid the office because we allowed staff, customers and visitors to go in and out of the place. The search was justifiable because our operatives got the vital documents they wanted on foreign exchange allocations to Dangote Group,” the source said.
“As an anti-graft agency, EFCC will not join issues with Dangote Group but Nigerians should wait for the outcome of the ongoing investigation.
“No one or group can impede or delay investigation. We cannot be deterred, we will get to the roots of the forex allocations in 10 years,” he added.
Meanwhile, as previously reported by Naija News, Dangote is not the only company under the searchlight of the EFCC regarding some of their forex transactions.
Some of the companies being investigated by the anti-graft agency include Dangote Group, BUA Group and Flour Mills. It is understood that a total of 52 companies are under the searchlight of the EFCC.
The information available on the investigation revealed that the EFCC had earlier written to the various companies asking for documentation on their forex transactions in the last 10 years, and they have all denied wrongdoing in their communications with the EFCC.
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