Operatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission carried out a raid at the Dangote Group’s headquarters in Lagos on Thursday, as part of an ongoing investigation into forex allocations in Nigeria.

According to Premium Times, the EFCC demanded documents related to the allocation of foreign exchange to the conglomerate over the past decade. 

Following their arrival, the EFCC scrutinized the provided documents for several hours and seized some of them.

Premium Times reported that according to sources, the EFCC had sent letters to 52 companies, including the Dangote Group, instructing them to provide documents supporting the allocation and utilization of foreign currencies over the last ten years. 

This action is part of an investigation into alleged preferential forex allocations by the Central Bank of Nigeria, led by Godwin Emefiele, who is accused of favoring certain individuals and organizations.

A source revealed, “The Dangote people intimated the EFCC that the documents were ready and that they were bringing them over. But the EFCC said its operatives would rather come to the company to collect the documents.”

Expressing concern over the EFCC’s approach, the source added, “The Dangote Group is perhaps Africa’s largest conglomerate, and it is troubling that the EFCC could deal with it in an unnecessary show of force, especially when it is not obstructing its investigation in any form.”

Premium Times further stated that despite attempts to seek comments from both the EFCC and the Dangote Group, responses from their spokespersons, Dele Oyewale and Anthony Chiejina, respectively, were unavailable at the time of reporting.