EFCC recovered N1.6 bn debt owed AMCON in 4years

Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said it has recovered the sum of N1,667,582,605.04 through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) between 2017 and July 5, 2021. This was contain in a letter by AMCON’s Managing Director, Ahmed Lawan Kuru and Group Head, Enforcement, Joshua Ikioda presented to the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loots at an investigative hearing, in Abuja. AMCON also revealed that the amount represented loan repayments recovered, which were credited to its Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account for the settlement of bond obligations. AMCON stated that remittances to the corporation in 2017 amounted to N1,178,764,500 for the credit of nine debtors.

For recoveries made in 2019, they said they received N356,318,105.08 on 21st September 2020 on account of seven debtors. They added they received a letter dated December 17, 2019 from the EFCC forwarding promissory notes on account of four debtors to the tune of N1,194,778,813. “The notes were returned to the EFCC through a letter dated October 28, 2019, as they were made out by the Debt Management Office. The schedule forwarded to the corporation by the House Committee indicated remittances by EFCC of the sum of N87,495,087.50 in 2020,” they added, however, they cited that they are yet to receive the quoted amount as it might be collections yet to be released to the corporation. Also at the hearing, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it was working to recover debts from some banks for the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend funds. Hon Adeogun Adejoro directed that the NNPC should submit all its accounts by its next sitting next week Tuesday.

Adejoro stated that “all debts owed the government must be vigorously pursued, as such monies were needed to fund the 2022 budget.” AMCON said that it still had 7,902 outstanding obligors with a total outstanding of more than N3.1 trillion to recover due to debt recovery challenges that it is facing. This was disclosed by the Managing Director of the Corporation, Ahmed Kuru, at the 2021 retreat of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions with the management of AMCON.