Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, disclosed this in an interview with the BBC
The FG’s move against Binance is part of the government’s efforts to salvage the value of the naira.
Onanuga explained that people used the crypto exchange platform to arbitrarily fix dollar-naira rates, adding that the practice negatively impacted the value of the currency.
According to him, Binance profited substantially from its “illegal transactions” in Nigeria while the nation suffered huge losses.
He added that the crypto firm is not registered in Nigeria and has no presence in the country.
Onanuga further disclosed that the Binance team were already cooperating with the Nigerian government by providing useful information.
He added that the company had suspended naira-related transactions on its platform.
Nevertheless, the FG wants Binance to pay at least $10 billion in retribution, Onanuga said.
It would be recalled that the FG recently blocked OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, Kraken, and other crypto exchange platforms to avert what it termed a continuation manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.
Following the ban, the government detained two executives of the company, who had reportedly come to Nigeria to negotiate with the Nigerian authorities on the crackdown on their platform.
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