The House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted a motion calling for the probe of Cryptocurrency, block chain, digital asset transactions and all the online peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace.
This is coming on the heels of the federal government clampdown on cryptocurrency giant, Binance and its subsequent exit from the country.
Recall that the House Committee on Financial Crimes had threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against Binance for its refusal to honor the summons extended to it by the committee.
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The House panel had summoned the Managing Director of Binance, Richard Teng, in a letter dated 12 December 2023, but failed to honour the invitation.
Adopting a motion sponsored by Honourable Isiaka Ayokunle Ibrahim representing Ifo/Ewekoro in Ogun State, the House mandate the Committee on National Security and Intelligence to include investigation of international money transfer operators, payment gateways and platforms, cloud computing, infrastructure (networks), utility sharing based platforms and their practices, in Nigeria to identify threats to National Security and gaps in legislative framework, statutes, and regulations to the detriment
of the country.
The committee will engage all relevant stakeholders to initiate necessary processes for establishing required legislation and regulations and dentify all the stakeholders operating in all categories listed above and their operations in Nigeria to establish their profile (in line with Know
Your Customer/Business protocol), such as legal status, parent company, and assess their compliance with our existing statutes or complicity in infractions against Nigeria including money laundering, illicit transactions, currency speculation and bad practices.
It will also superintend the engagement of the office of the NSA, other relevant agencies, cryptocurrency exchanges, and stakeholders in tracking, Identifying, and recovering illicit and laundered funds or assets and ensure equity, probity, transparency, the rule of law, and international best practices are observed by the government in investigating
cryptocurrency exchanges and others.
Similarly, the investigation will extend to the current status of the E-Naira on the global cryptocurrency platform, the cost incurred, processes undertaken, and statutory compliance in creating the digital currency.
The committee is expected to report back to the House in 8 weeks for further legislative action
The Niger Delta Youth Council Worldwide and the Empowerment for Unemployed Youths Initiatives had petitioned the National Assembly, urging the two chambers to invite Binance for questioning.
