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The company, however, refuted claims that the office was raided by men of the anti-graft agency.
This is contained in a statement issued by the company on Sunday, December 7, 2023, wherein it allayed the fears of stakeholders over the development.
The anti-graft body had written to 52 companies, including Dangote Plc, instructing them to supply documents supporting the allocation and utilisation of foreign currencies to them in the last decade.
The commission is also investigating alleged preferential forex allocations to individuals and organisations by the CBN during Godwin Emefiele‘s regime.
Meanwhile, while pledging its readiness to assist the anti-graft agency in its investigations, the company noted that the EFCC request is not peculiar to it as 51 other companies also received similar letters.
“We understand similar letters were sent to 51 other Groups of companies requesting for same information spanning the same period,” the statement partly read.
Dangote Group also disclosed that it responded to the EFCC to acknowledge receipt of the letter whilst seeking clarification on the subsidiaries or companies within the Group that they required information on.
The conglomerate also requested additional time to compile and properly present the extensive documentation spanning ten years.
“However, the EFCC did not provide the clarification sought did not honour the request for an extension, and insisted on receiving the complete set of documents within the limited timeframe.
“Despite this constraint, we assured the EFCC of our commitment to providing the information and pledged to share documents in batches as we complete the compilation,” the Dangote Group management stated.
It added: “On 4 January 2024, our team delivered the first batch of documents to the EFCC. However, officers of the EFCC did not accept the documents, insisting on visiting our offices to collect the same set of documents directly.
“Whilst our representatives were still at the EFCC’s office to deliver the documents, a team of their officers proceeded to visit our offices to demand the same documents in a manner that appeared designed to cause us unwarranted embarrassment. Worthy of note is the fact that the officials did not take any documents or files from our Head office during their visit as these were already in their office.
“We must emphasise that, to our knowledge, no accusations of wrongdoing have been made against any company within our Group. At present, we are only responding to a request for information to assist the EFCC with their ongoing investigation.”
The company stated its resolve to continue to play a key role in stimulating the domestic economy, saying, “As a law-abiding and ethical corporate citizen, we remain committed to providing the EFCC with all necessary information and cooperation.
“We have already delivered the first batch of documents and are actively working to compile and submit the remaining documents, in good time, to aid their investigation.
“Our Group is a key contributor to the national GDP, the largest employer in the private sector, one of the largest groups listed on the Nigerian Exchange, and one of the highest taxpayers in the country.
“We remain steadfast in our belief in Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law and its dedication to fostering an environment conducive to investment and value creation for both local and foreign investors.”
Dangote Group, therefore, appealed to all stakeholders to show understanding and patience, promising to inform them of any further developments.
