Nigeria-US bilateral relations at risk over continued detention of Binance Executive – Lawmaker warns

US Representative James Hill (R-AR) has expressed concern that the continued detention of Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan in Nigeria could jeopardize bilateral relations between the two countries.

In a statement on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle, Hill said: “I’m surprised Nigeria, a country considered a friend to America, is holding a US citizen in detention over a matter he’s not directly involved in. I urge President Biden to push harder for his release.”

Hill, who serves as Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and Chairman of the subcommittee overseeing digital assets and financial technology, highlighted Gambaryan’s contributions to combating cybercrime, saying that since Tigran has helped America bust many cybercrime rings, It’s time to return the favour.

The lawmaker’s intervention comes as Gambaryan’s case continues to draw attention, with many calling for his swift release. Hill’s engagement with US Under Secretary for Management, John Bass on this matter underscores the growing concern among US officials.

In a video interview posted on his verified X handle, Hill asked Bass: “In this administration, we have seen a lot of action on Americans wrongfully detained abroad. And they frequently get a designation. But suddenly here we have a country like Nigeria which we removed from the list in the Biden administration on religious freedom issues; signed a commercial and investment partnership with in the middle of this personal tragedy, detaining an American citizen indefinitely.

“What do you think the sticking point is, for getting Gambaryan home to his family? “

He also described government’s response to the issue as embarrassing. “The response of the government is embarrassing in Nigeria and I think while our Ambassador is doing his best on the ground there, we need to press harder. We need the president engaged here. This is wrong. This is a dispute that in no way involves Tigran Gambaryan and we’re watching him decline in his health.

“It is a horrifying situation and, this country is a friend of the US; we are not talking about Iran, or Russia here, we are talking about Nigeria.

“I don’t think this leadership, the national security adviser, the president, the cabinet leadership in Nigeria get to understand they’re putting our relationship on the line because of the way they’re handling this situation,” he added.

However, responding to how far the American government has tried to get Gambaryan out of detention and when possibly that can happen, Bass said: “I think we are picking our way through some complicated tangles within the Nigerian system but I am hopeful we are taking out ways to resolve those in the near future, and I can assure you that the secretary and deputy secretary, along with myself are seized with this and doing everything possible to get him out soon”

This is not the first time Hill is making a strong case for Gambaryan, urging Biden’s government to put more effort towards getting him out of detention.

Sometime in June, Hill and another lawmaker Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, Democrat, representing Pennyslyvania, had called for humanitarian release of the Binance Executive.

Gambaryan has spent six months in detention, facing charges of tax evasion and other financial crimes in Nigeria.

The lawmakers said they called for his release due to the condition they met him in prison when they visited him.

“We have asked the U.S. embassy to advocate for the humanitarian release of Gambaryan because of the horrible conditions in the prison, his innocence and his health.

“We have a taskforce in Congress that is on Americans wrongfully detained abroad, or held hostage. Clearly in our view, Tigran fits in that camp”, Hill and Houlahan had demanded.

The calls also followed the ones by his wife, Yuki Gambaryan who has also consistently demanded the immediate release of her husband, since the Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS has amended its charges to free Gambaryan of culpability in the tax evasion saga.

Yuki wondered why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC is still prosecuting her husband when the main tax agency says he does not have a case to answer in the tax evasion allegation.