Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has denied any involvement in illicit foreign exchange transactions and has cautioned individuals who propagate the claim of economic sabotage against the company to cease from such unscrupulous actions.
It issued the warning in response to claims made in certain sponsored reports in the online media that the company is being investigated by Special Investigator Jim Obazee, who is looking into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is being led by former CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for alleged illegal foreign exchange deals and money laundering.
In a statement, DIL called the accusation baseless and a rehashing of a report that was akin to one that was maliciously distributed in 2016 by a rival company, BUA Group, under the guise of a worried Nigerian.
DIL management explained that the same false report back in 2016 was now being given a fresh false slant by one Ahmed Fahad purporting it to be a new petition directed to the attention of President Bola Tinubu and Mr. Jim Obazee, the Special Investigator probing the CBN, and subsequently different blogs and social media platforms have been carrying variants of this arrant falsehood to the detriment of our corporate reputation.”
The statement said: “attempt by the authors of this misleading allegation to give it a fresh life in the media is baffling as the two newspapers that were misguided into publishing it as advertorial then (2016) have since publicly apologised to the management of DIL in writing as well as retracted the advertorial in its entirety in their respective publications.”
DIL emphasized once again that “Letters of Credit” were established for the construction of the various operational plants as well as for the purchase of heavy equipment and spares necessary for the Dangote Cement plants’ launch. Foreign exchange for DIL’s numerous projects was strictly sourced from the Interbank Foreign Exchange market in compliance with CBN approvals.
DIL explained its forex dealings, saying “all FX purchased in respect of our African Projects expansion were fully utilised for what they were meant for. The projects for which the FX was utilised are visible for everyone to see. It is on record that some of these projects were commissioned by Nigerian top-ranking government officials and in attendance were Chief Executives of various banks, Captains of Industries and the Presidents of the host countries supported by their Senior Government Officials.”
The company added that money contributed to its African expansion project is a valid capital investment in those nations, and that the $576 million in foreign exchange that has been repatriated thus far has helped to stabilize the foreign exchange market and increase foreign exchange revenues in Nigeria.
