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BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS: Provide evidence in seven days or face legal action — Lawmaker tells Binance executive

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Philip Agbese, a member of the house of representatives, has denied a bribery allegation against him by an executive of Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan.In a post published on X on Friday, Gambaryan recounted his experiences in the hands of some Nigerian lawmakers.

Gambaryan claimed three lawmakers, including Peter Akpanke, and Agbese demanded a $150 million bribe in cryptocurrency payment into their personal wallets.

The Binance executive, however, failed to provide any evidence to support his claims.

In a statement issued on Friday, Agbese said he was not a member of the committee and never demanded a bribe from Binance.

“I am outraged by the false allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the controversial crypto firm Binance, claiming that I was among those who demanded a $150 million bribe from him,” the statement reads.

These allegations are false. I was not part of any meeting with any Binance executive regarding money for any purpose.

“The leadership of the committee took the matter to court, and Binance has already apologized.

“Let it be on record that I am not a member of the Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes. I visited my colleague, Hon. Peter Ankpanke, in his office, where he was meeting with some visitors about an activity of his Committee, with Hon. Peter Anakwe, a member of the Committee present.

We exchanged pleasantries and, in character with my person as an avid pursuer of knowledge, discussed Binance’s activities that did not include any demand from anyone.

“It was during this visit to the office of Hon. Peter Ankpanke, with Hon. Peter Anekwe present, that he told me they were interfacing with Binance Team from abroad over a referral to their Committee.

What transpired between the two of them and the Binance executive after I left the office is left to them.

I never saw those visitors again after that chance meeting and did not afterwards attend any meeting with Binance executives, the EFCC, or the DSS.

“I am aware that when this issue was first raised, the Chairman of the Committee went to court and Binance apologised. So, all inquiries should be directed to the Committee, not to Hon. Philip Agbese.”

Agbese noted that he has never been involved in any cryptocurrency trading and does not have a crypto wallet so he could not have asked for funds to be credited to a “non-existent wallet”.

Agbese urged Gambaryan to either publish any evidence linking him to the bribery accusation or apologize within seven days, or face legal action.

Read the full statement below:

“I am outraged by the false allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the controversial crypto firm Binance, claiming that I was among those who demanded a $150 million bribe from him.

These allegations are false. I was not part of any meeting with any Binance executive regarding money for any purpose.

The leadership of the Committee took the matter to court, and Binance has already apologized.

“Let it be on record that I am not a member of the Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes. I visited my colleague, Hon. Peter Ankpanke, in his office, where he was meeting with some visitors about an activity of his Committee, with Hon. Peter Anakwe, a member of the Committee present. We exchanged pleasantries and, in character with my person as an avid pursuer of knowledge, discussed Binance’s activities that did not include any demand from anyone.

“It was during this visit to the office of Hon. Peter Ankpanke, with Hon. Peter Anekwe present, that he told me they were interfacing with Binance Team from abroad over a referral to their Committee.

What transpired between the two of them and the Binance executive after I left the office is left to them. I never saw those visitors again after that chance meeting and did not afterwards attend any meeting with Binance executives, the EFCC, or the DSS.

“I am aware that when this issue was first raised, the Chairman of the Committee went to court and Binance apologised.

So, all inquiries should be directed to the Committee, not to Hon. Philip Agbese.

“I have never used any cryptocurrency as I do not have a crypto wallet anywhere in the world, so I could not have asked for funds to be credited to a non-existent wallet.

Gambaryan and his associate, who escaped from prison, should return to the EFCC and defend themselves. Instead of trying to implicate me, they should focus on addressing the allegations against them.

As a consequence of the foregoing, I demand that Tigran Gambaryan publishes any evidence that links Hon. Philip Agbese to the issue. The man has spewed many other lies in his report about the government demanding information on opposition elements and other outrageous claims.

I further demand that, failing to provide evidence as stated, Tigran Gambaryan must cause a retraction of his malicious claims and publication and apologise to me within the next 7 days or face legal action from my lawyers.

This is not the first allegation against me by a foreign entity.

The first was that I work for the past government and the Armed Forces to promote Nigeria’s agenda, which shows the extent of desperation by entities that are interested in undermining public office holders they perceive as nationalistic.

Business

Dangote refinery gets new CEO

David Bird is the former head of Oman’s Duqm Refinery

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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has appointed David Bird, the former head of Oman’s Duqm Refinery, as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A report by S&P global on Friday said, Bird heads the refinery’s petroleum and petrochemicals division in a strategic move to overcome production challenges and advance its next wave of expansion.

Effective from July 2025, the former Shell head of operations at its Balau Pokom refinery stepped in as CEO of the Dangote Group’s fuels and petrochemicals business, which commissioned the world’s largest single-train refinery last year.

The CEO participated at the just concluded Dangote Leadership Development Program Graduation Ceremony.

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Trump Imposes 15% tariff on Nigerian Imports

Under the revised tariff schedule:15% tariffs now apply to Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, South Korea, Turkey, Japan, Israel, Norway, and several others.10% tariffs target countries such as the Falkland Islands, the United Kingdom, and others not explicitly listed.

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US President Donald Trump has approved a 15 percent import tariff on Nigeria and dozens of other countries.

The White House announced the implementation of the new reciprocal tariff rates on Thursday.

In April, Trump imposed a 14% tariff on Nigerian imports, citing the need for fairer trade terms.

That move was followed by a 90 – day grace period to allow time for bilateral trade negotiations, pushing the final decision deadline to August 1.

However, the majority of talks failed to result in new trade agreements.

As a result, the new tariff rates are now being implemented, with Nigeria among dozens of countries facing increased duties under the revised plan.

African countries, including Nigeria, were unable to secure individual trade deals with the United States despite urgent efforts from both sides.

During the negotiation window, Trump also reintroduced travel restrictions targeting several African nations. Though Nigeria was initially exempt, it was later added to the list as the policy evolved.

Under the revised tariff schedule:15% tariffs now apply to Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, South Korea, Turkey, Japan, Israel, Norway, and several others.10% tariffs target countries such as the Falkland Islands, the United Kingdom, and others not explicitly listed.

Tariffs climb to 18% for Nicaragua, 19% for countries like Indonesia and Pakistan, and 20% for countries like Indonesia and Pakistan, and 20% for Bangladesh, Vietnam, and others.

10% tariffs target countries such as the Falkland Islands, the United Kingdom, and others not explicitly listed.Tariffs climb to 18% for Nicaragua, 19% for countries like Indonesia and Pakistan, and 20% for Bangladesh, Vietnam, and others.

More severe penalties include 25–41% tariffs for countries like India, South Africa, Iraq, and Syria.

Switzerland faces a steep 39% duty, while Laos and Myanmar are hit with 40%.Syria tops the list at 41%.

Meanwhile, negotiations are still ongoing with China, Washington’s main trade rival.

Canada is facing a 35% tariff, while Mexico was hit with a trio of levies, including a 50% duty on metals. Brazil, previously under a 10% tariff, was slapped with an additional 40% charge on Thursday, bringing its total to 50%.

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EU accuses online giant Temu of selling ‘illegal’ products

EU regulators believe Temu is not doing enough to protect European consumers from dangerous products and that it may not be acting sufficiently to mitigate risks to users.

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The European Union accused Chinese-founded online shopping giant Temu on Monday of breaking the bloc’s digital rules by not “properly” assessing the risks of illegal products.

AFP reports that TEMU, wildly popular in the European Union despite only having entered the continent’s market in 2023, Temu has 93.7 million average monthly active users in the 27- country bloc.

EU regulators believe Temu is not doing enough to protect European consumers from dangerous products and that it may not be acting sufficiently to mitigate risks to users.

Evidence showed that there is a high risk for consumers in the EU to encounter illegal products on the platform,” the European Commission said in its preliminary finding.

It pointed to a mystery shopping exercise that found consumers were “very likely to find non-compliant products among the offer, such as baby toys and small electronics.”

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