ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption on Monday waded into the controversy surrounding the liquidation of Oceanic Bank, following a petition by an undisclosed person to the Committee.
The petitioner alleged irregularities in the execution of the failed bank, as well as management of assets recovered from the Managing Director of the then Oceanic Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru.
Senator Victor Lar, Chairman of the Committee, hinted that the petitioner had alleged that Ibru was successfully prosecuted, and a plea bargain reached with a view to forfeit some of her assets.
“The handling of the plea bargain was full of anomalies. The handover of assets and shares by Mrs. Ibru to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), as well as transfer of shareholders to ECO Bank never took place. Also, due to poor administration of recovered assets and implementation of the plea bargain, Ibru still controls most of the assets and shares recovered under the plea bargain,” Lar said.
The petitioner also alleged that Ibru converted Oceanic Bank assets and cash worth over £15 million for her personal use.
“She changed the name of Oceanic Bank in UK to Premier European Capital, and transferred all Oceanic Bank’s assets and cash to the new company without the knowledge of the previous shareholders and directors of Oceanic Bank. She opened a trust fund, and converted properties recovered from her to the trust fund. She owns about 11 properties in the U.S., 51 in Nigeria, four in Dubai and one in South Africa. She has shares in various companies and two aircraft,” Lar added.
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Giving their own side of the story on the alleged returning of the forfeited assets to Ibru, Acting Managing Director, AMCON, Foluke Dosunmu, told the Committee that as far as AMCON was concerned, Ibru did not, at any time, recover any of the seized assets, either through purchase, or under any guise.
“The assets of Cecilia Ibru were forfeited to AMCON; the interests in those assets were invested, and ownership were passed to AMCON. The sum of N150 billion, which was the first set of funds in respect of non-performing loans, was paid back to Oceanic Bank with consideration to the underlying collateral.
“Second set was N336 billion depositors funds that had been eroded. The primary motive of AMCON was that no depositor should lose his or her funds.
“On September 5, 2010, Ibru entered into a plea bargain with the Attorney General of the Federation for the value of certain specified properties and funds (that were) illegally acquired. An order forfeiting the properties of Ibru was made by an FCT High Court. AMCON was not a party to the plea bargain between Ibru and the AG. AMCON paid Oceanic Bank the sum of N83 billion for (the) assets listed in schedule four of the gazette,” Dosunmu said.
Dosunmu, who added that only N67 billion was received as assets by AMCON, however, stated that AMCON cannot account for the sum of N15.7 billion.
“After parting with all these sets of funds, AMCON assumed full ownership of the property, and does not owe anything to Oceanic Bank. These assets have been verified; they are either in the custody of AMCON, or have been sold,” she added.
Speaking of the liquidation of the assets in question, Dosunmu said that AMCON was not obliged to render account to Oceanic or Eco banks.
“We are not liable to render these accounts to Oceanic or Eco (banks). Also, AMCON did not get airplanes or cash from Oceanic Bank as publicly peddled. In terms of evidence of sales of properties, we have a list of assets we have sold out of the properties that were forfeited. However, recovery of shareholders’ fund was not part of AMCON’s responsibility,” Dosunmu said.
According to Dosunmu, who added that the sum of N570 billion was invested in reviving Oceanic Bank, AMCON is yet to recover N16.1 billion out of the amount.
This, she said, excluded the interests that accrued between January 2011 and date.
“All the assets are currently being managed to get them to the appropriate value and then sell them,” she added.
In its submission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that all the recovered properties had been handed over to AMCON.
“Ibru’s investigation was conclusively done, and there was a plea bargain between government and her. There was a court order, which directed AMCON to manage all the confiscated properties. No property was with the EFCC. Other cases are in court and we cannot comment on them. Meanwhile, all properties recovered had been handed over to AMCON according to the court order,” its Legal Officer, Ibrahim Audu, said.
While commending the parties for heeding the Committee’s summon, Lar noted that it would be criminal for the same person, who forfeited properties to reacquire them under any guise.
“We want to know the process of disposal of these properties. Did you follow due procedure? Did you advertise the process? This is because the petitioners are alleging that the same person has bought the properties. Tell us, who bought these properties. The process has to be seen to be transparent,” Lar said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as Eco Bank Plc also appeared before the Committee.
