Rep Agbese sues Binance executive N1bn over bribery allegation

Philip Agbese, a member of the House of Representatives, has filed a N1 billion defamation lawsuit against Tigran Gambaryan, an executive at Binance, over allegations that he and two other lawmakers demanded a $150 million bribe. The suit, filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Monday, claims that Gambaryan’s statements […]

Philip Agbese, a member of the House of Representatives, has filed a N1 billion defamation lawsuit against Tigran Gambaryan, an executive at Binance, over allegations that he and two other lawmakers demanded a $150 million bribe.

The suit, filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Monday, claims that Gambaryan’s statements on social media falsely linked Agbese to corruption, damaging his reputation.

The case, registered as FCT/HC/CV/576/2025, seeks a court declaration that the allegations made against Agbese are defamatory, an order restraining Gambaryan from making further claims, and a public retraction of the accusations.

The lawmaker is also demanding ₦1 billion in general damages and ₦5 million to cover the cost of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit stems from a series of social media posts made by Gambaryan, Binance’s Chief Compliance Officer, in which he alleged that Agbese and two other Nigerian legislators sought to receive a $150 million bribe through cryptocurrency transactions.

The claim was widely circulated online and picked up by several Nigerian news platforms, including Channels Television and Blueprint.

According to Agbese’s legal team, led by human rights and digital lawyer Barrister S. Ihensekhien, Gambaryan’s statements were false, malicious, and intended to damage the lawmaker’s reputation.

The lawsuit argues that Agbese has never owned a cryptocurrency account and has never conducted any digital currency transactions.

In addition to financial damages, the suit demands that Gambaryan issue a public apology in at least three national newspapers and remove the social media posts containing the allegations.

It also calls for an injunction preventing him or any of his associates from further spreading the claims through the media.

The Nigerian government has also weighed in on the matter. On 14 February 2025, the Minister of Information and National Orientation dismissed Gambaryan’s allegations, stating that no evidence had been provided to support them.

The government expressed concerns about what it described as the spread of misinformation, particularly from individuals facing legal scrutiny.

Gambaryan has been at the centre of Nigeria’s regulatory crackdown on Binance. The cryptocurrency exchange has faced allegations of financial misconduct, and Gambaryan was detained by Nigerian authorities in February 2024 as part of an investigation into Binance’s activities in the country.

The Nigerian government has accused the platform of operating without proper licensing and facilitating transactions that allegedly undermine the national economy.

The court has instructed that Gambaryan be served notice of the lawsuit through substituted means, either via the online news platform News Naija or through his legal representatives in Nigeria, Aluko & Oyebode, a law firm based in Abuja.

Gambaryan has been given eight days from the date of service to respond, after which the court may proceed with judgment in his absence.

The statement from the lawmaker, titled: “Binance: Why I didn’t wait 7 days before suing Gambaryan,” reads: “Last week, I issued a seven-day deadline for Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, to retract his malicious claims and publication and apologise to me within seven (7) days or face legal action for falsely alleging that I was among those who demanded bribe from Binance.

“Why I did not bother to apply to join the suit of Hon. Ginger Onwusibe against Binance in court previously was because Binance claimed at that time that some “unknown persons” approached them and their counsel for bribe on behalf of the highly reverend Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes as reported by the New York Times of May 7, 2024, it became expedient to go to court after their new claim categorically mentioned my name.

“So, three days after my stated deadline, after a careful analysis of his wild claims which hold no one water either in common sense or logic, I have today, Monday February 17, 2025, instituted legal proceedings against Gambaryan, after he repeated his false allegations instead of retracting them.

“I was compelled to approach the court because my reputation as a citizen, a distinguished Congressman and that of my country is at stake such that if I failed to do this today, posterity, my children and the generation unborn will not forgive me.

“The accuser, who made the false statements, is not in any way ready to apologize for defaming me. He has instead chosen to say he would like to be excused from making further comments on the issue because he wants to spend more time with his family.

“This is totally wrong. I am an African and have a larger family and more loved ones to stay with than Gambaryan. He must come to the court to prove his allegations or be ready to pay the compensation I have demanded.

“This is not for the billions that will come at the end of the foreign day from Gambaryan but to serve as a deterrent to others like Gambaryan in the society and who think falsehood is a strategy of getting away with their crimes against our country and humanity.”