Tinubu Govt Speaks On Demanding $10 Billion Fine From Binance

The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has denied slamming a $10 billion fine on the cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, over the free fall of the naira.

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, had accused the cryptocurrency platform of aiding those fixing the Nigerian exchange rate to sabotage the economy.

Onanuga asserted that Binance is not registered in Nigeria and has no physical presence in the country, alleging that the platform was used to arbitrarily fix dollar-naira rates, negatively impacting the value of the local currency.

According to Onanuga, the Tinubu government has slammed a 10 billion dollar fine on Binance due to its illegal operations, which contributed hugely to the devaluation of the naira.

However, in a chat with Peoples Gazette on Friday evening, the presidential aide disclosed that his earlier statements were misrepresented by the media.

Onanuga clarified that he never said the company had been informed about the fine or that the $10 billion figure was conclusively determined by Nigerian regulators.

He said, “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 finalized yet.”