Nigeria’s national security adviser and the anti-graft EFCC are pushing a false narrative aimed at smearing the citizen-led movement to force the Tinubu administration to address the searing hunger and deprivation besetting a vast majority of the country’s nearly 230 million people. 

Nuhu Ribadu, the NSA, told a gathering of council of state on Tuesday in Abuja that his office had purportedly discovered large cash assets traced to alleged sponsors of the protests, including $37 million in a crypto address. 

Mr Ribadu said politicians looking to undermine President Bola Tinubu were behind the protests and he had been working to expose their financial ties. The claim further amplifies the government’s weeks-long characterisation of the protests as politically motivated without supplying any evidence in support. 

Shortly after Mr Ribadu’s claim about his efforts to the council, which he said had been coordinated with the EFCC, court documents circulated on social media containing the order of a federal judge that sought to confiscate crypto accounts on allegations of money laundering and terrorism financing. 

While the ex-parte warrant granted to the EFCC did not contain names of alleged sponsors of the protests, Mr Ribadu had deployed generic terms in his address to the council of state that appeared geared towards advancing a smear gambit against millions of Nigerians who took to the streets nationwide from August 1-10. 

The EFCC listed four crypto addresses in its application for a warrant to the Abuja judge, Emeka Nwite, on August 9, claiming to have found large sums in the accounts and arguing it was in the national interest to confiscate them.

But Peoples Gazette looked through the crypto addresses listed in a court warrant obtained by the EFCC and found that the government’s claim was mostly falsified and partly misleading. Of the four addresses listed, only one, TUpHuDkiCCmwaTZBHZvQdwWzGNm5t8J2b9, has funds in it up to $518,000 as of the time of this story, and even that lone account belonged to a crypto firm, not an individual as the government claimed. 

The second wallet, TGVCWYLdeCyjmSpojd4n7hqfJp2ucwuGAx, which the government listed as having purportedly been used to fund protests, only had N273,000 (or about $175) in it. 

Another wallet, bclqd6803rg24sgh4pjaprvh47apvgmleps9zagdt, does not appear to be a valid crypto address as it returned no hits when The Gazette checked via multiple platforms. It was unclear whether or not the government mistakenly typed the address. Still, the EFCC said the account contained only $90 in its court application. 

Most notable, however, was the government’s claim that it found $37 million in the crypto wallet TB37WWozkkenGVYWD7Do2N5WT2CedqDktJ. But when The Gazette tracked the wallet, it found nothing in it. Not only was there no money in the wallet, the wallet had never been used to conduct any transactions in the past. It was like opening a free bank account without ever depositing any money into it. 

Mr Ribadu has become notorious for his overzealousness since Mr Tinubu tapped him as his administration’s lead person on national security last year. He had previously smeared Nasir El-Rufai in order to undermine the former Kaduna governor’s nomination to a ministerial position. 

Why Mr Ribadu decided to push a divisive narrative against ordinary citizens remained unclear. Both the NSA and the EFCC did not return requests seeking comments about the status of the crypto accounts. 

The protests were seen as the most unifying demonstration in recent decades for bringing both the predominantly Muslim North and Christian-dominated South together in one voice against poverty. Cities, notably Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Abuja, among others, saw passionate marches through the streets over the first 10 days of August. 

The president initially acknowledged the agitations and promised his government was pursuing a multi-pronged measure to pacify citizens who had fallen on hard times. 

But as the demonstration got underway, the government unleashed a series of crude tactics to contain its effects. First, telecom firms were ordered to significantly hobble internet access across the country. Then the police were also allowed to get away with using live rounds at civilian protesters, leading to at least 15 fatalities and many injuries. 

Rights activist Zainab Umar said the government has been seeking to discredit the protesters for weeks. 

“Many of us who participated in the protest in Kano are still wondering why the government has chosen to target us rather than focusing on the fundamental issues that provoked the protests in the first place,” Ms Umar said by telephone on Wednesday afternoon. “The president and his people seem to be telling us that they want to continue chasing shadows, and we won’t hesitate to return to protest grounds if we cannot see any improvement in our lives in the coming months.”