SAHARA REPORTERS
Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has made unsubstantiated claims about the citizen-led movement protesting against hunger and deprivation in the country.
During Tuesday’s council of state meeting in Abuja, Ribadu alleged that his office had discovered significant financial assets supposedly tied to the protest’s sponsors, including a cryptocurrency address holding $37 million. However, he failed to provide concrete evidence to support these claims.
Ribadu insinuated that politicians opposed to President Bola Tinubu’s administration are orchestrating the protests, and claimed to be probing their financial ties.
However, these allegations remain unsubstantiated and echo the government’s earlier narrative that the protests are politically driven.
Shortly after Ribadu’s claims, court documents surfaced on social media, revealing a federal judge’s order to seize crypto accounts allegedly linked to money laundering and terrorism financing.
The timing of this revelation raises questions about the validity of Ribadu’s claims and potential government attempts to discredit the protests.
However, Peoples Gazette noted that an investigation into the crypto addresses listed in a court warrant obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission revealed that the government’s claims about the protest funding were largely fabricated and partially misleading.
It also noted that a thorough examination of the addresses uncovered discrepancies and inaccuracies, casting doubt on the validity of the government’s allegations.
PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported on Tuesday that the Nigerian government had frozen cryptocurrency assets valued at over $37 million, allegedly linked to organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests.
The Federal High Court in Abuja granted the order on July 9, following an ex parte application by the EFCC on August 8. The EFCC claimed that the assets were proceeds of money laundering and terrorism financing, leading to the court’s decision to freeze the wallets in question.
The hearing proceeded without any opposition to the application, taking the form of a conversational exchange between Justice Emeka Nwite and O.S. Ujam, the lawyer representing the EFCC. The absence of any objections allowed for a straightforward and unchallenged presentation of the EFCC’s case.
“That an order of this honourable court is hereby made freezing the wallet addresses/accounts stated in the schedule below, which wallets are owned by individuals currently being investigated for offences of money laundering and terrorism financing, pending the conclusion of the investigation,” Mr Nwite ruled shortly after listening to the EFCC’s lawyer, according to Premium Times report.
According to the report, the largest wallet contains a substantial amount of cryptocurrency, holding USDT37,061,867,869.3, equivalent to approximately $37 million USD.
The remaining three wallets hold significantly smaller amounts, with values of USDT967, USDT90, and USDT443,512.37, respectively.
Although the ex-parte warrant secured by the EFCC did not identify specific individuals as alleged sponsors of the protests, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s subsequent remarks to the council of state used vague language that may be seen as an attempt to discredit the nationwide protests held from August 1-10.
According to findings by Peoples Gazette, only one of the four addresses listed by the government, TUpHuDkiCCmwaTZBHZvQdwWzGNm5t8J2b9, has funds in it up to $518,000 as of Wednesday evening, when the report was published on its website.
Meanwhile, the account belonged to a crypto firm, not an individual as claimed by the government.
The investigation by The Gazette revealed that the second wallet listed, TGVCWYLdeCyjmSpojd4n7hqfJp2ucwuGAx, contained only N273,000 (approximately $175), contrary to the government’s implications.
Another wallet, bclqd6803rg24sgh4pjaprvh47apvgmleps9zagdt, appears to be invalid, yielding no results on multiple platforms. The EFCC claimed this wallet held $90, but its validity remains uncertain. Most strikingly, the government alleged that wallet TB37WWozkkenGVYWD7Do2N5WT2CedqDktJ contained $37 million.
However, The Gazette’s investigation found this wallet to be empty, with no transaction history. It appears to be a dormant account, similar to an unused bank account with no deposits.
A composite showing the crypto address the Nigerian government claimed holds $37 million actually has zero balance and no transaction history.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN SAHARA REPORTERS
