Dangote Group say the visit by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to its headoffice in Lagos, caused them “unwarranted embarrassment. “
In a statement today, the company explained that it’s not against the EFCC doing its work, but that the officials stormed the company “in a manner that appeared designed to cause us unwarranted embarrassment.”
In the statement, the company explained that it received a letter from the EFCC on December 6, 2023, requesting details of all the foreign exchange allocated to it 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 same information spanning the same period.
“We assured the EFCC of our commitment to providing the information and pledged to share documents in batches as we complete the compilation.
“On 4 January 2024, our team delivered the first batch of documents to the EFCC.
However, officials of the EFCC did not accept the documents; they insisted on visiting our offices to collect the same set of documents directly.
” Whilst our representatives were still at the EFCC’s office to deliver the documents, a team of their officials proceeded to visit our offices to demand the same documents in a manner that appeared designed to cause us unwarranted embarrassment.
” Worthy of note is the fact that the officials did not take any documents or files from our Head office during their visit as these were already in their office.
” As a law-abiding and ethical corporate citizen, we remain committed to providing the EFCC with all necessary information and cooperation.”
“We must emphasise 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.”
Nevertheless, the company resolves to continue to play its key role in stimulating the domestic economy, “as a law-abiding and ethical corporate citizen, we remain committed to providing the EFCC with all necessary information and cooperation.
” We have already delivered the first batch of documents and are actively working to compile and submit the remaining documents, in good time, to aid their investigation.
“Our Group is a key contributor to the national GDP, the largest employer in the private sector, one of the largest groups listed on the Nigerian Exchange, and one of the highest taxpayers in the country.
We remain steadfast in our belief in Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law and its dedication to fostering an environment conducive to investment and value creation for both local and foreign investors.”