• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

      FG Reaffirms Non-Interference in ICPC, EFCC Operations

      ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Customs Begins Live Operations of Automated Excise Register System

      Still on the “National Single Window” Project By Abdulsalam Mahmud

      Minister of Finance Wale Edun and the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi decorating OP Olaniyan

      Customs Generates N3.7trn in H1 2025 as FG Targets Enhanced Private…

      Customs Gets 4 New Deputy Comptrollers-General, 12 ACGs, Promotes 3,312 Officers

      DG NITDA Inuwa Kashifu at the GITEX Nigeria

      Sanwo-Olu, Tijani, Kashifu Urge Digital Innovation as GITEX Nigeria Opens

  • National
    • ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night…

      Founder Image Merchant Promotion Ltd, Yushau Shuaib, Nigeria Customs CG, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the IPRA representative during the 2024 GWA awards in Belgrade, Serbia

      Again, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates…

      Army Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in…

      The road accident scene

      Nigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By…

      Military troops

      Army Neutralise Scores of Bandits as 8 Security Guards Killed in…

    • Government
      • ​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu

        JUST IN: NNPP Expels Reps Member Abdulmumin Jibrin Days After Visiting…

        Ganduje: A Lifetime of Service Beyond Politics By Garba Yusuf Abubakar

        Eid El-Maulid: Kwara Gov Urges Muslims To Embrace Unity, Shun Partisanship

        Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

        Nigeria’s War on Illegal Mining Needs the Media on the Frontlines…

  • Security
    • ​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu

      A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of Narcotics

      ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night…

      Army Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in…

  • Features
    • ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night…

      The road accident scene

      Nigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By…

      Ganduje: A Lifetime of Service Beyond Politics By Garba Yusuf Abubakar

      ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi

      DCP Olumuyiwa Adejobi: The Spokesperson Who Redefined Police Communication

      (L-R) Yahaya Bello and Usman Ododo of APC Kogi

      RECOMMENDED: Godfatherism the Ododo-Bello Way!! By Nafisat Bello

  • State
    • A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of Narcotics

      PHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates,…

      Military troops

      Army Neutralise Scores of Bandits as 8 Security Guards Killed in…

      Troops Neutralise Gunrunner, Armed Militia, Recover Weapons in Plateau

  • Event
    • PHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates,…

      Founder Image Merchant Promotion Ltd, Yushau Shuaib, Nigeria Customs CG, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the IPRA representative during the 2024 GWA awards in Belgrade, Serbia

      Again, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates…

      BUKAA Announces 2025 AGM at BUK New Campus: Join In-Person or…

      Vice President Kashim Shettima and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

      Shettima at 59: Tinubu Hails VP’s Loyalty, Commitment to Service

      Erasmus Ikhide damaged Vehicle and Dangote Cement Truck

      Erasmus Ikhide Narrowly Escapes Death in Collision with Dangote Truck

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Economy Nigeria’s Golden Deal That Few Are Talking About
  • Economy
  • Features
  • General

Nigeria’s Golden Deal That Few Are Talking About

By
Mohammed T Abiodun
-
March 28, 2025

Nigeria’s Golden Deal That Few Are Talking About

In the early days of March 2024, the social media and news mediums were hit with news detailing how Nigeria’s security agencies had detained Tigran Gambaryan, Binance Holdings Limited’s head of financial crime compliance and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s Africa regional manager.

Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It offers services such as spot trading, futures, staking, and lending. The platform supports numerous cryptocurrencies, allowing users to trade coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as many altcoins. Binance had been under watch by the Nigerian government for lending itself to suspicious transactions without trace.

From cryptocurrency, to foreign exchange transactions, transactions totaling over $21.6 billion passed through the Binance platform with no trace by the Nigerian government. The actors behind these transactions ranged from tech enthusiasts, kidnappers, businessmen, bandits, fraudsters, politicians and a long list of persons who were interested in having no traces of their transactions seen by others, let alone state officials. The question is why would anyone want to have their transactions hidden from the eyes of the government?

The Nigerian government wanted cooperation from Binance to gain visibility of users of its platform in the country, entailing who was using it and for what purposes. There was good cause for this. Banditry in Nigeria had been on an alarming rise. Kidnappers, too, were having a field day. They were able to launder proceeds of their crimes through the platform with no trace by the government.

It was for this reason that the government sought cooperation from Binance to help it trace the criminals that were using its platform.

And Binance is no stranger to investigations and requests for cooperation. As early as 2018, the US Department of Justice was investigating its platform for potential violations of US Anti-Money Laundering laws and sanctions compliance. Five years later, Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to charges that included operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. They paid a historic $4.3 billion in penalties for this.

Among the atrocities the company committed included facilitating trade with criminal actors including ransomware gangs. In 2023 they also were indicted by the US Treasury Department for willfully neglecting Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements that allowed illicit actors to operate freely on their platform. The US Securities and Exchange Commission did not spare Binance, too. In 2021, Germany had given them a warning. And in the same year, the United Kingdom had a tight leash on the platform’s activities.

The Nigerian government’s insistence on transparency and accountability was not an isolated incident. Binance has a notoriety for non-compliance with governments, and Nigeria was going to have none of that.

With Mr. Gambaryan in custody, the Nigerian government insisted on Binance providing it with details and oversight of activities. Binance through proxies and multiple campaigns tried to get their executive freed, after Nadeem Anjarwalla had escaped from a safe house where he had been kept by security operatives. All tricks in the book were played. None worked.

In fact, according to a Premium Times Exclusive report, senior US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, engaged their Nigerian counterparts, including Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, to press for the release of detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan.

US lawmakers also intensified efforts with a congressional letter to President Biden urging Mr Gambaryan’s case to be treated as a hostage situation; they then followed with visits to Nigeria and a resolution in Congress calling for his immediate release.

The U.S. did not stop there. The country’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan called his Nigerian counterpart, Mal. Nuhu Ribadu on September 30, 2024. Premium Times reported that sources indicated to the newspaper that the U.S. softened its stance following this engagement. Previously, U.S. officials and Binance lawyers had approached the matter with a condescending tone, expecting American laws to take precedence. It appears that Mal. Ribadu gave his counterpart a stern position. Three days later, U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills Jr. reached out to Ribadu’s office, signaling a willingness to resume talks and find a resolution.

Throughout the engagement, Nigeria firmly asserted its sovereignty in response to the US pressure to release Tigran Gambaryan, rejecting claims that he was being held as a hostage and emphasizing that he was facing trial for financial crimes. This firm stance ultimately forced the US to adopt a more conciliatory approach, leading to negotiations that resulted in the eventual dismissal of charges and the release of Tigran Gambaryan, and an agreement by both countries on a deal that places Nigeria at a better position today than it was before the Binance arrests.

Read Also:

  • ​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu
  • Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence
  • NDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of Narcotics

In the agreement, Nigeria insisted that any release of Mr. Gambaryan must be portrayed solely as a diplomatic gesture to the United States, and that his handover would be only to U.S. officials rather than directly to Binance. Nigeria also demanded unfettered U.S. cooperation in its law enforcement actions against Binance and other cryptocurrency firms, including clear identification of the U.S. Department of Justice officials who would provide technical assistance on Nigeria’s Binance investigation.

According to the report, a significant part of that deal was where Nigeria called for swift action to return roughly $380 million in seized assets, detailing amounts from cases involving payments by former NSA Sambo Dasuki, property forfeitures linked to Diezani Alison-Madueke and Jide Aluko, assets associated with Sani Abacha frozen in France, and a recent seizure from a former governor’s family.

Nigeria also requested that the U.S. formally submit its release demand in a letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu—also copied to the National Security Adviser, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Attorney General/Minister of Justice—while emphasizing that releasing Mr Gambaryan would not obstruct ongoing investigations and prosecutions against Binance and its officials.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills is reported to have communicated these terms to the US government, and within a few days the US had signed to them, leading to Mr. Gambaryan’s release on the 23rd of October, 2024. Remarkably, six days later, former US President, Joe Biden called President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to thank him for his release. Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs shared highlights of the call as thus: “The two leaders exchanged pleasantries, and President Biden proceeded to thank President Tinubu for his partnership and for Nigeria’s partnership, in particular the collaboration between the two countries with regards to our law enforcement and law enforcement agencies as well as the release of one of the suspects of the cryptocurrency exchange company (Binance).”

That deal was a power move for Nigeria. It already has begun birthing results. Take for instance the US embassy in Nigeria announced the launch of the U.S.-Nigeria Bilateral Liaison Group on Illicit Finance and Cryptocurrencies; coincidentally this was announced on the same day that Mr. Gambaryan was released.

This partnership will see the US assist Nigeria to build its capacity to pursue cybercrime investigations and prosecutions. It is also expected that the two countries will cooperate in countering and responding to malicious cyber operations, cybercrime, and other digital harms.

This was not the only good that came out of the US deal with Nigeria. Funds totaling $6.02 million seized by American authorities nearly a decade ago, stemming from a botched arms deal was released to Nigeria by a Federal Court in Eastern California in late December as a result of the deal.

The money had been confiscated from an arms broker tasked with facilitating the sale of military equipment from the United States to Nigeria. The broker, lacking the requisite export licence, ran afoul of the US Arms Export Control Act. According to the US government, the intermediary’s unauthorised role in the sale, export, and delivery of military hardware to Nigeria triggered the seizure, freezing the funds in legal limbo. The US government had previously resisted Nigeria’s bid to recover the funds.

In another major gain from the deal, on January 10th, 2025, Nigeria secured the return of $52.88 million from the United States, a windfall tied to the kleptocratic excesses of former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and businessman Kola Aluko. The agreement, inked by Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and the US Ambassador, Richard Mills Jr., earmarks a portion, $50 million, for a rural electrification scheme, to be overseen by the World Bank, while the remaining $2.88 million will flow as a grant to the International Institute for Justice, that will fund a counter-terrorism initiative to train criminal-justice officials across East, West, and North Africa.

Driven by the National Security Adviser, with the collaboration of other senior government officials, very few Nigerians are talking about this deal. Fewer know about it. But it means a great deal to Nigeria, its relations with the US, and its ambitions to tackle challenges of economic sabotage and criminality. It will provide Nigeria the means to investigate Binance and those who have used its platforms to orchestrate crime in the country.

The collaboration that has come out of this deal further strengthens Nigeria’s institutional capacity to safeguard its economy from digital threats, ensuring that future financial crimes—whether involving cryptocurrency firms or other actors—are met with a coordinated and forceful response.

Beyond security, the deal yielded tangible financial benefits, unlocking long-contested funds that will directly support Nigeria’s development and security priorities. This agreement was more than a diplomatic resolution; it was a strategic victory that reinforced Nigeria’s position on the global stage, proving that with firm leadership, like that shown by Mal. Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser and a clear vision, the country can shape negotiations to serve its long-term security and economic interests.

Mohammed T. Abiodun, a historian writes from Abuja.

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Tigran Gambaryan
Previous articleNigeria, Germany Renew MoU to Deepen Defence Cooperation
Next articleKOGI PRISON BREAK: Minister Blames Warders for Security Lapse at Custodial Centre
Mohammed T Abiodun
Mohammed T Abiodun

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night Boss

Military Plants Trees, Donates Relief Items to Orphans in Plateau

The road accident scene

Nigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

Ganduje: A Lifetime of Service Beyond Politics By Garba Yusuf Abubakar

ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi

DCP Olumuyiwa Adejobi: The Spokesperson Who Redefined Police Communication

Eid El-Maulid: Kwara Gov Urges Muslims To Embrace Unity, Shun Partisanship

(L-R) Yahaya Bello and Usman Ododo of APC Kogi

RECOMMENDED: Godfatherism the Ododo-Bello Way!! By Nafisat Bello

Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

Nigeria’s War on Illegal Mining Needs the Media on the Frontlines By Zekeri Idakwo Laruba

Crisis Communication

Building Resilience: Crisis Communication in Modern Organizations By Princewell N. Achor

Customs Begins Live Operations of Automated Excise Register System

Still on the “National Single Window” Project By Abdulsalam Mahmud

Blasphemy Debora and Suspect

Amaye and the Tragedy of Jungle Justice By Umar Farouk Bala

Recent Posts

  • ​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu
  • Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence
  • NDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of Narcotics
  • ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night Boss
  • Military Plants Trees, Donates Relief Items to Orphans in Plateau
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on TinubuBorno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns ViolenceNDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of NarcoticsARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night BossMilitary Plants Trees, Donates Relief Items to Orphans in PlateauPHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates, Drive University DevelopmentAgain, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates 70th Anniversary in AfricaArmy Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in KogiNigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By Mukhtar Ya'u MadobiArmy Neutralise Scores of Bandits as 8 Security Guards Killed in KatsinaTroops Neutralise Gunrunner, Armed Militia, Recover Weapons in PlateauTroops Neutralise Militia After Failed Attempt to Disarm Soldier in PlateauNAF, Ground Troops Neutralise 30 Terrorists in Joint Operation at Dar JamelJUST IN: NNPP Expels Reps Member Abdulmumin Jibrin Days After Visiting TinubuKano Police Arrest 9 for Setting Patrol Van Ablaze, Probe Murder Case
X whatsapp