Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday conducted a search operation at the head office of the Dangote Group in Lagos.
They said it was in furtherance of investigations into the foreign exchange transactions during the tenure of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, who is now undergoing trial.
The high-profile search, it was gathered, kicked off at the company’s head office at the Falomo end of Lagos Island at around 3pm.
*Over 50 other organisations risk similar action- EFCC sources
A source confided to an online medium that the EFCC, which had been probing the foreign exchange transactions, particularly allocations, by some 52 companies, including Dangote Plc, had no option but to swing into action following the alleged shady deals that occurred during the tenure of the ex-apex bank ace, Emefiele.
He confided, “The commission (EFCC) is investigating Dangote Plc and about 51 other big companies. The commission discovered that the allocations were not approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari.”
It would be recalled that the Dangote Group had last November denied allegations of foreign exchange (forex) malpractices and money laundering of a purported whopping sum of $3.4bn.
READ ALSO:Emefiele: EFCC raids Dangote Lagos headquarters
Responses last night were sketchy, but EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, declined comments on the development.
However, some top officials and some anonymity-seeking officials of the anti-graft agency confirmed the development when accosted.
Their words, “Our operatives are on a search in the company. So many things went wrong with the forex transactions under the CBN.
“Dangote Group is one of the beneficiaries of forex deals by the CBN. So, we are looking into the books because of discoveries of illegal transactions. It is part of the probe of CBN under Emefiele,” one of the sources said.
According to him, the EFCC had been probing the utilisation of the forex made available to Dangote for the refinery project.
Another source was quoted as saying that several other companies were, indeed, being probed over the forex transactions.
It was further gathered that the raid could also be the product of a coordinated probe into the activities of the investigative team appointed by President Bola Tinubu to examine past financial malfeasances in the CBN as part of measures to fortify Government Business Entities (GBEs).
The team, led by investigator Jim Obazee, had as its mandate, taking steps to ensure the strengthening and probity of key GBEs; block leakages in the CBN and related GBEs, as well as provide a comprehensive report on public wealth that currently sit in the hands of corrupt private and public individuals and establishments, as well as agencies.
*Company keeps mum
Efforts to get reactions from the spokesperson for Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina, were not successful as he neither picked up calls nor responded to SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to his mobile line.
