Diezani: EFCC, AMCON Fight Over Recovered Assets

There is a clash between two federal government agencies – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) – over some recovered assets.

It was gathered that the assets causing frictions between the two agencies are those recovered from and forfeited by some allies of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee on Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loots Movable and Immovable Assets from 2002 to 2020 by Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Effective Efficient Management and Utilisation is currently being tasked with resolving the crisis.

A member of the committee told The PUNCH that the EFCC had approached the committee to prevent AMCON from getting the assets, some of which were said to have been used as collateral to secure loans from various banks.

According to the lawmaker, there was suspicion that AMCON’s move might be an avenue to retrieve the assets from the custody of the EFCC and the Federal Government by extension.

The source said, “EFCC is complaining that AMCON is moving to possess some of the assets already seized and forfeited by looters. AMCON is claiming that some of the assets were already in possession of banks before EFCC approached courts to secure permanent forfeiture of the same assets.

“The assets include those retrieved from the so-called Diezani boys such as Aluko and Omokore.“Indeed, some of the banks have the original documents to claim the assets but the issue now is how to determine how a financial agreement can supersede a court order on the same assets.”