Reps seeks recovery of N43b, invites EFCC over financial disparity with AMCON

Lawmakers decry abduction of 140 school pupils

The House of Representatives has queried the disparity in financial records of recovered loot in the custody of the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Records before the House adhoc committee on recovered loots and assets of government, which resumed hearing, yesterday, showed that N1.8 billion recovered promissory notes were transferred by the EFCC to AMCON in 2017

But AMCON’s director of enforcement, Usman Abubakar, who appeared before the committee, had told the lawmakers that the anti-graft agency only transferred N1.4 billion into its account.

Following the unresolved difference, the committee, chaired pro tempore by Sada Soli, resolved to invite the EFCC to appear before it on a later date for clearance, even as it mandated AMCON to make available all promissory notes in recovery efforts from 2015 to date to the committee.

The committee also asked AMCON to provide receipts of payment and promissory notes of the N1.3 billion it received in 2019, which the director said, will mature in 2024, contrary to EFCC records that showed a maturity date of 2021.

Besides, the managing director of Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB), Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, who appeared before the committee told the lawmakers of how the Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, was frustrating the recovery efforts of the bank.

He said the bank had engaged the Special Presidential Investigative Panel in 2017 to recover non-performing loans from property developers, but shortly after the panel was disbanded, the bank wrote to the minister’s office to get an update on the status of the recovered assets but got no response to date.

The House also decried the abduction of no fewer than 140 students of Baptist High School, Damshi, Chikun Local Council of Kaduna State.

Adopting a motion under urgent matters of national importance, the House condemned incessant killings and abductions by kidnappers. It urged security agencies to ensure the early and safe return of the abductees. The lawmakers also called on authorities to boost recruitment and training capacity for security agencies.