The Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese, has denied allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the cryptocurrency giant Binance.
Gambaryan had claimed that Agbese was among those who demanded a whopping $150 million bribe.
Agbese described the accusations as baseless and issued an ultimatum to Gambaryan, demanding he provide evidence or retract his claims within seven days or face legal consequences.
“These allegations are false,” Agbese stated. “I was not part of any meeting with any Binance executive regarding money for any purpose.”
The lawmaker clarified that he is not a member of the Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes. According to his account, he had only visited his colleague, Hon. Peter Ankpanke, during a meeting involving the committee and Binance representatives.
Agbese emphasized that any further questions regarding the issue should be directed to the committee, not to him.
He also clarified that he has no involvement with cryptocurrency. He said, “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.”
In his statement, Agbese demanded that Gambaryan produce evidence linking him to the alleged bribery. “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,” he said.
Agbese warned that should Gambaryan fail to provide evidence of his claims, he would be left with no choice but to pursue legal action. “I further demand that failing to provide evidence, Tigran Gambaryan must retract his malicious claims and apologize to me within the next seven days or face legal action from my lawyers.”
