By Augustine Aminu
Contrary to speculations in some sections of the media that theofficials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), carted some documents away from its head office, last Thursday, the management of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), has debunked the claim, stating that the officials truly visited, but left the office without any document.
In an advertorial published in some National dailies, the Management of DIL stated that EFCC officials truly came to its head office on the 4th of January 2024, and left after some time. The statement revealed that the officials did not take any documents with them as its staff, were in their office with the said documents already. “…our team took the first batch of documents to the EFCC, on the same day they visited us. The officers, who saw our staff in their office did not accept the documents, insisting on visiting our offices.
“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.”
The Management asserted that the company did not have anything to hide as it operates open and transparent transactions. The documents they wanted were from 2014, about 10 years ago and we sought clarification on the subsidiaries or companies within the Group that they required information on and pleaded for time, to be able to put all the documents together.
“However, the EFCC did not provide the clarification sought and did not honour the request for an extension and insisted on receiving the complete set of documents within the limited timeframe.”
Despite the constraints, DIL Management through the advertorial stated that: “We assured the EFCC of our commitment to providing the information and pledged to share documents in batches as we complete the compilation.”
“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.”