The Federal Government of Nigeria has intercepted a significant amount of funds believed to have been used to finance the recent nationwide protests.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, revealed during the inaugural Council of State meeting, chaired by President Bola Tinubu, that over N83 billion was traced, including both cryptocurrency and fiat money.
According to Ribadu, about $50 million was tracked in cryptocurrency donations, out of which $38 million was blocked across four wallets. Additionally, N4 billion in local currency contributions were traced back to political actors in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina. These funds were reportedly used to fuel the protests that have swept across the country.
During the meeting held at the Aso Rock Villa, the NSA disclosed that the protests had foreign backing. Ribadu mentioned that a European national had been identified as a key orchestrator, particularly linked to the distribution of foreign flags among protestors. This individual is now being pursued by Nigerian authorities and will soon be declared wanted.
Local conspirators involved in these activities have been apprehended in various states, including Abuja, Kano, and Kaduna. One of the anonymous sources from the meeting stated, “In his presentation, the NSA said the government was able to trace $50m to crypto wallets that were made as donations to the protests. They succeeded in blocking four of those wallets containing $38m.
“They also found out that some political actors contributed N4bn to fund the protests,” one of the sources told PUNCH.
The Council of State meeting brought together top government officials, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Discussions during the meeting centered on national security, the ongoing protests, the state of the economy, and food security.
The meeting also addressed the growing concern over foreign involvement in the protests. Demonstrators in several states were seen waving foreign flags, including the Russian flag, which raised alarms within the government. The Nigerian military has condemned this action as a “treasonable offence” and announced that they are investigating those responsible.
In a subsequent briefing, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake, emphasized that any change in government must be achieved through democratic means. He reiterated that the government would not tolerate any unconstitutional attempts to destabilize the country.
Alake stated, “Any change of government has to be through the ballots and not through the barrel of the gun or insurrection or any other unconstitutional means.”
He added, “Matters of state were discussed in a robust and frank manner. The National Security Adviser was also on hand to present the security situation of the country. He informed the Council of State about the pre-, during and post-event of the last protests, which I do not call a protest. I call it a movement to effect a regime change by force, which was resisted.
“The Council thanked Nigerians at large for resisting any unconstitutional move to change the government. If anybody is not satisfied with the government, there is always an election coming, so you wait for the election and cast your vote.
“The NSA briefed the Council on the security situation and allayed fears. He spoke about the tightness of the security around the country and also reassured all and sundry that nobody would be allowed to truncate our hard-earned democracy. And he reassured us of the readiness of all security agencies in the country to secure our territorial integrity and protect Nigeria’s democracy.”
