US President Joe Biden calls President Tinubu over release of Binance executive, Gambaryan

US President Joe Biden today October 9 had a phone conversation with President Bola Tinubu touching on issues from law enforcement collaboration to a potential United Nations (UN) Security Council seat for Africa.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, who disclosed this said the call took place at around 4pm Nigerian time and lasted approximately 30 minutes.

Tuggar who briefed State House correspondents on the details of the discussion between the two leaders,said the conversation addressed the recent release of Tigran Gambaryan, Head of Financial Crime Compliance at Binance, a cryptocurrency trading firm.

‘The call was about the collaboration between the two countries with regards to law enforcement and law enforcement agencies as well as the release of one of the suspects of the cryptocurrency exchange company that you are all aware of.” Tuggar said

He added that President Tinubu expressed gratitude for the US partnership on security matters, particularly in Africa.

“Mr President also thanked the US for the partnership and collaboration in numerous areas with regards to security in Africa and West Africa as a whole. President Biden assured President Tinubu that it was a partnership because the future of the world resides in Africa, and as such, the partnership is important” Tuggar said

The two leaders also discussed Africa’s representation on the UN Security Council, with Biden reiterating US support for a permanent African seat. Tuggar relayed Biden’s words, noting that the US leader “does not see why one of those seats should belong to Nigeria.”