Alleged $150 million bribe: Nigerian lawmaker gives Binance executive 7 days to provide evidence

Philip Agbese, one of the Nigerian House of Representatives members alleged to have demanded a $150 million bribe from Tigran Gambaryan, has issued a 7-day ultimatum to the Binance executive to provide evidence of such or face legal action.

In a post published on X on Friday, Gambaryan recounted his experiences in the hands of some Nigerian lawmakers.

Gambaryan claimed three lawmakers, including Peter Akpanke, Ginger Onwusibe, and Agbese demanded a $150 million bribe in cryptocurrency payment into their personal wallets.

However, Agbese, who is the Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives in a statement issued on Friday, said he was not a member of the committee and never demanded a bribe from Binance.

False allegations

Describing the allegations as false, Agbese said he was never part of any meeting with the Binance executive.

“I am outraged by the false allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the controversial crypto firm Binance, claiming that I was among those who demanded a $150 million bribe from him,” the statement reads. 

“These allegations are false. I was not part of any meeting with any Binance executive regarding money for any purpose. 

“I demand that Tigran Gambaryan publishes any evidence that links Hon. Philip Agbese to the issue.  I further demand that failing to provide evidence as stated, Tigran Gambaryan must cause a retraction of his malicious claims and publication and apologize to me within the next 7 days or face legal action from my lawyers,” he stated.

How Agbese got involved

While insisting that he was not a member of the Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes, Agbese said he only got involved in the matter when he visited his colleague, Hon. Peter Ankpanke, in his office, where they discussed Binance’s activities that did not include any demand from anyone.

“It was during this visit to the office of Hon. Peter Ankpanke, with Hon. Peter Anekwe present, that he told me they were interfacing with Binance Team from abroad over a referral to their Committee. 

“What transpired between the two of them and the Binance executive after I left the office is left to them. I never saw those visitors again after that chance meeting and did not afterwards attend any meeting with Binance executives, the EFCC, or the DSS,” he narrated.

• Agbese noted that he has never been involved in any cryptocurrency trading and does not have a crypto wallet so he could not have asked for funds to be credited to a “non-existent wallet”.

• Agbese urged Gambaryan to either publish any evidence linking him to the bribery accusation or apologize within seven days, or face legal action.

Backstory

Among other allegations, Gambaryan in a post on X on Friday stated that he visited Nigeria to meet with lawmakers and relevant authorities.

• He alleged that he was told to comply with whatever the House members “instructed us to do.”
• According to him, the three House of Reps and a fourth person he could not remember his name demanded the $150 million bribe.
• He also accused the Federal Government of requesting data of opposition figures who were using the Binance platforms, which is against data privacy law.