The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating the status of all recovered loot, movable and immovable assets from 2002 to 2020, by agencies of government, has adjourned hearing to Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021.
The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Adeogun Adejoro (APC-Ondo), who adjourned the hearing on Thursday, in Abuja, said that it was to enable the committee collect more information as well as to thoroughly study the submitted documents
He described the investigation as an effort to ensure effective, efficient management and utilisation of the funds, urging all stakeholders to cooperate with the committee.
Adjourning the hearing, Adejoro said for Keystone Bank, there was a case of $13 million and $18 million that needed to be reconciled.
He assured that the committee would sort it out and that for Polaris Bank, the committee agreed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) needed to respond to some documents, to enable his committee conclude its work.
“Heritage Bank is already speaking with NNPC, there is already a proposal for payment and they said they have paid some money, but we need to reconcile that and confirm from NNPC and get both sides to sit down and sort out their issues.
“We got a letter and a receipt from Nexim Bank as well, they have already reached an agreement with Aso Savings and have made some progress there.
“For Fidelity Bank, we said we are adjourning to next week and for Sterling Bank, we just got their documents today, we will not be able to take them.
“Standard Chartered Bank wrote us a letter saying that they do not have anything, we are trying to compare that with our records to see if really they have the facts.
“We will do due diligence, we are trying to protect the banks as much as possible, you will notice that I am deliberately slowing things down because from the last hearing, I know it caused some kind of heat in the financial industry.
“We have a responsibility to protect the banking industry, we have a responsibility to ensure that our economy is not unnecessarily shaken by anything so we are mindful of what we are saying.
“We enjoin all of you to please cooperate with us, so that we do not get to a point where it will affect you negatively,’’ he said. – NAN.
