The Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has summoned Binance cryptocurrency exchange CEO Richard Teng to appear before the agency by March 4 to testify regarding alleged terrorism financing and money laundering. This was reported by local media.
Committee Chairman Ginger Onwusibe expressed the intention to protect Nigerians from financial crimes, particularly those involving foreign companies. He described the allegations against Binance as “quite serious.”
“You cannot operate a company with over 10 million Nigerians on your platform without paying taxes and without having a physical office where Nigerians can lodge complaints when they have issues with your services,” Onwusibe stated.
Previously, the committee had sent a series of invitations to Teng, which he ignored. Onwusibe warned that if Teng refuses again, the agency “will be forced to use constitutional powers to take appropriate measures.”
Binance has not officially commented on this statement.
Earlier, Nigerian authorities expressed concern over the impact of cryptocurrency exchanges on the country’s economy. Telecommunications companies were instructed by the government to block access to several platforms, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.
At the end of February, two Binance employees who traveled to Nigeria to address the issue were detained by security agencies for questioning regarding currency market regulation.
In early March, media reported that Nigerian authorities allegedly demanded $10 billion in compensation from Binance for manipulating the naira exchange rate. However, both the exchange and Nigerian presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga later denied this information.