Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, believes that when officers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) visited his company’s office in Lagos in January, they wanted to embarrass his business.
Dangote talked about this during an interview on Bloomberg TV in New York, USA, on Monday.
He explained that the officers came to his office without talking to anyone or making any arrests. This made him think that they just wanted to cause trouble.
“They told us to wait, saying they would come to our office. Suddenly, they were there. They didn’t speak to anyone or arrest anyone. They came and left, just to make us look bad,” Dangote said.
He pointed out that even with these problems, his company’s work remains “100 percent clean,” and they are very important to Nigeria’s economy.
Dangote also said that his company pays the highest salaries in the country and gives more money in taxes than the banking sector.
“In 2023, our company will pay more taxes than all the banks in the country. Because of this, we always aim to be perfect in what we do, no matter who is in power. We want to be an example,” Dangote added.
He also mentioned that his company is ready to give documents or information to any authority whenever asked.
Backstory
In January, officials from the EFCC went to the Dangote Group headquarters. They were looking into foreign exchange deals from the past years.
The EFCC’s visit was part of an investigation into claims that Dangote Group and 51 other companies got special treatment in getting foreign exchange from Nigeria’s Central Bank.
But later, the Dangote Group said that the EFCC didn’t give them enough time to gather documents about foreign exchange from the past ten years. They said they planned to send these documents in parts before the raid happened.
“We are confused about why the EFCC came to our office again. We had been invited to the EFCC office before and gave them all the documents they asked for. So, why did they need to come back to our office? They left with nothing because we had already given them everything they wanted. The same EFCC that visited us is now telling the media that we are being investigated,” Dangote’s statement said.
The Dangote Group also stated that they are working with the EFCC in the ongoing investigation, which involves many other companies in the country.