In A Phone Call, US President Biden Lauds Tinubu For Releasing Binance’s Gambaryan

* Backs Nigeria’s quest for UN security council seat

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

United States President, Joe Biden, has thanked his Nigerian counterpart, Bola Tinubu, and the Nigerian government for dropping the criminal charges against the Head of Financial Crimes Compliance at Binance, Tigran Gambaryan. 

Gambaryan, a US citizen, was arrested last February while on a business trip to Nigeria  and later charged alongside his company, Binance, with laundering $35.4 million and tax evasion, which they denied.

This was sequel to the escape from custody of his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, who was Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, and had been arrested alongside Gambaryan.

But the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last week announced in court in Abuja that it had withdrawn the money laundering charges against Gambaryan to allow him to get medical treatment outside the country.

In a move to express gratitude on the development and a number of other matters of mutual interest, President Biden called President Tinubu at about 4pm on Tuesday during which the duo had a telephone conversation that lasted about 30 minutes.

Briefing newsmen on the issue at the State House, Abuja, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, said discussions between the two presidents centred around the recent discharge of Gambaryan and other diplomatic issues. 

According to Tuggar, Biden expressed support for Nigeria’s quest to get a permanent seat status on the United Nations Security Council, especially with the country’s leadership roles in Africa and peace-keeping efforts and sacrifices across the globe.

His words: “The call was about the collaboration between the two countries with regards to law enforcement and law enforcement agencies, as well as the release of one of the suspects of the crypto currency exchange company that you are all aware of. 

“In response, President Tinubu also thanked him and the US for the partnership and collaboration in numerous areas, and also discussed the issue of collaboration with regards to security in Africa, in particular West Africa. 

“President Biden equally assured that this is a partnership that will continue and he stated, as a matter of fact, not more than not just once, but at least twice, that the future of the world resides in Africa, which is why it was important for this partnership to continue. 

“The two leaders also discussed the issue of the permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council, and President Biden once again assured that the United States is committed to seeing Africa having two permanent seats and also reiterated that he does not see any reason why one of those seats should not belong to Nigeria, given its position in Africa, its stature and importance.”