By “Provide Evidence or Face Legal Action” — Nigerian Lawmaker, Philip Agbese Replies Amidst $150 million Bribery Scandal
Honourable Philip Agbese, a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, has issued a denial statement on allegations of bribery levelled against him by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings Limited.
Agbese has issued a seven-day ultimatum for Gambaryan to provide evidence or face legal action.
The issue erupted when Gambaryan, in a post on X on Friday, claimed that three Nigerian lawmakers, including Agbese and Peter Akpanke, demanded a $150 million bribe in cryptocurrency payments into their personal wallets, though he did not present any evidence to support his claim.
In rebuttal, Agbese released a statement on Friday denying the accusation, stating that he was never part of any committee that engaged with 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,” Agbese said.
The lawmaker, however, gives Gambaryan a week to either present proof of his claims or prepare to face legal consequences.
The statement read, “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 apologised.
“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.”
According to Agbese, “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.”
The lawmaker said, “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 had 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 apologise within seven days, or face legal action.
He said, “The fellow mentioned in his allegations that the Honourable members demanded for bribe from them and that it should be paid into their personal account.
“I want to state in my honour that I have no cryptocurrency account anywhere in the world. I have never transacted any business with any electronic currency since I was born and I challenge the accuser to supply the so-called crypto currency account belonging to me.”
Agbese alleged that Gambaryan and his associate, who escaped from prison, should return to the EFCC and defend themselves.
He said, instead of trying to implicate him, 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,” he said.
“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,” Agbese added.
