Onanuga Denies $10bn Fine Claim Against Binance, Says He Was Misrepresented

The special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has made it clear that he never claimed crypto trading platform, Binance, was aware of $10bn penalty or that Nigerian regulators decided same.

“I said our government may impose heavy fines on Binance for what happened. I never said Binance had been informed about the fines or that it would definitely be $10 billion.

“I only said the amount may be imposed, which is because nothing has been finalised yet,” Onanuga explained.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency giant Binance Holdings Ltd has refuted claims that it was in discussions with the Nigerian government regarding potential fines of up to $10 billion.

According to a Binance official quoted by an online newspaper, “We recently discussed ways to resolve issues with Nigeria, but we did not hear any demand for $10 billion.”

The crypto company made it clear that it is not amenable to negotiations with the Nigerian government regarding the restoration of its recently suspended services or the release of its executives, who are detained on suspicion of manipulating the naira to cause its collapse and subsequent economic consequences.

“Our goal is to establish positive relationships with Nigeria’s government and populace. Although we want to see the restoration of our services in Nigeria as soon as possible. We have no intention of paying fines for either staff or services,” it revealed.