TheCable

Cecilia Ibru, former CEO of Oceanic Bank International Plc (now part of Ecobank), may have reacquired the properties, assets and shares she forfeited to the federal government.

This was disclosed by Victor Lar, chairman of the senate committee on drugs, narcotics, financial crimes and anti-corruption, at its sitting with the management of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Ecobank Plc.

According to Lar, a Nigerian, whose identity was not revealed, had petitioned the committee alleging that assets worth about N569.9bn, which Ibru forfeited to the federal government, have been reacquired by Ibru.

The petition read in part, “It is interesting to note that the handling of the plea bargain was fraught with anomalies and the handing over of assets and shares of Cecilia Ibru to AMCON and transfer to shareholders in Ecobank never took place.

“Due to poor administration of the recovery and implementation of the plea bargain, Cecilia Ibru still controls most of the assets and shares recovered under the plea bargain. Mrs. Ibru converted Oceanic Bank UK with assets and cash of over £15m to her personal use.

“She changed the name of Oceanic Bank UK to Premier European Capital, transferring all Oceanic Bank assets to the new company without the knowledge of the previous shareholders and directors of Oceanic Bank.”

In her response, Foluke Dosunmu, acting managing director, AMCON, told the committee that it wasn’t true that Ibru bought the forfeited assets, adding that they were forfeited to the AMCON, not to be managed by the corporation, but as bailout to rescue the distressed Oceanic Bank which had since been acquired by Ecobank.

Dosunmu added that Ibru was yet to submit the sum N16.1billion being a shortfall of the assets listed in the plea bargain between her and the federal government.

She also told the legislators that AMCON was not involved in the plea bargain arrangement between Ibru and the attorney general, who acted on behalf of the federal government.

According to her, “N150bn was the first set of funds in respect to non-performing loans paid back to Oceanic Bank with consideration to the underlying collateral. Second set was N336bn of depositors funds that had been eroded. The primary motive of AMCON was that no depositor will lose his funds.

“After parting with all these set of funds, AMCON assumes 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.”

The senate panel queried the AMCON boss over the process adopted in the sale of the assets and why she had failed to enter into fresh litigation to recover the N16.1bn worth of shares currently held by Ibru and others outside the country.

Dosunmu’s response that AMCON did not advertise Ibru’s assets for sale infuriated the chairman of the panel, who described the process of disposal as absurd even as he demanded the list of all properties yet to be sold.

According to Lar, “It will be criminal for the same person who forfeited properties to still reacquire the properties. We want to know the process of disposal of these properties; did you follow that procedure, did you advertise the process?

“Because the petitioner is alleging that the same person has bought the properties. Tell us who bought these properties. The process has to be seen to be transparent.

“Was the sale advertised or it was a secret selection of bidders? The senate was just finding out about the disposal of the properties and was not initially aware. Also, the general public is not aware as well.”

In his presentation,‎ EFCC, which was represented by its legal officer, Ibrahim Audu, denied that that there was any property in the custody of the EFCC as alleged in the petition.

Audu said, “Just as the petitioner rightly highlighted in his petition, investigation in the case of Ibru was conclusively done. There was a plea bargain, which was entered into between the government and Ibru. All the properties recovered have been handed over to AMCON in accordance with the court order for management.”

Ibrahim Jafiya, executive director, Ecobank Plc, told the panel that the bank took over the control of Oceanic Bank about two years after AMCON had effectively taken possession of its assets and liabilities adding that the management of Ecobank was, therefore, not involved in the execution of the plea bargain.

The CBN, represented by Okwu Nnanna, deputy governor, financial sector systems sustainability, also denied any knowledge of the details of the plea bargain and how the properties were disposed saying that the bank ended its involvement after handling over Oceanic Bank to AMCON.

The representative of SEC, Abatcha Bulama, also maintained that the commission has no knowledge of the shares mentioned in the petition.

Ibru had on the September 5, 2010 entered into a plea bargain with the attorney-general for the value of certain specified properties and funds illegally acquired after an order forfeiting the properties of Ibru was made by a federal high court sitting in Lagos.

She was also sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on a three count charge of negligence, reckless grant of credit facilities and mismanagement of depositors’ fund.