Four Banks Complied With Order On freezing Benue Govt Accounts -AMCON Tells Court
Four commercial banks in the country have complied with the order of a Federal High Court, Abuja, directing the freezing of all bank accounts of the Benue Government.
The four banks include First City Monument Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, Suntrust Bank Nigeria Ltd, and Wema Bank Plc.
Counsel to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Ogechukwu Okeke, on Tuesday, told the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo when she presented the report on compliance to the court order.
Others include those in Heritage Bank Plc; Keystone Bank Limited; Polaris Bank Limited; Stanbic IBTC Plc; Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited; Sterling Bank Plc; Suntrust Bank Nigeria Limited; Union Bank of Nigeria Plc; United Bank for Africa Plc; Unity Bank Nigeria Plc; Wema Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.
NAN reports that AMCON had, on Oct. 26, brought an ex-parte motion, with suit number: FHC/ABJ/AMC/74/2021 dated and filed on Sept. 30 by its Counsel, Darlington Ozurumba.
The motion prayed for five reliefs.
The court, which granted the reliefs, also made an interim order “freezing and attaching the JAAC Bank Accounts (Joint Accounts Allocation committee), Internal Generated Revenue Accounts, all bank accounts both current, savings, fixed deposits and/or investments accounts of the 2nd respondent (Benue Government) maintained with all the banks mentioned above pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
“An interim order is hereby made restraining all banks and/or other financial institutions above mentioned in Nigeria forthwith from releasing or dealing in any manner howsoever with monies held in any account to which the respondents are signatories pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
“An order is hereby made directing all banks and/or other financial institutions in Nigeria to within seven (7) days of the date of service of this order, file and serve an affidavit of compliance disclosing with a statement on each account howsoever designated, held and/or maintained by the respondents and ail accounts to which the respondents are signatories for a period of sic months prior to the date of service of this order till date.”
Meanwhile, in the affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Abubakar Isa, a staff of AMCON, the corporation described the loan as a toxic loan of eligible bank assets transferred to it by law to recover.
AMCON told the court that the 1st respondent (the firm), which has its office in Kaduna State, had collected a N333 million loan facility from Bank PHB PLC (now Keystone Bank Ltd) on Jan. 31, 2008 “for the purpose of purchasing 5, 000 pieces of motorcycles to the 2nd defendant and its workers through the Nigeria Labour Congress of its state vide an irrevocable standing payment order (ISPO}.
“That the 2nd respondent is the state government of the beneficiaries who equally gave ISPO guarantee for the repayment of the loan through deduction from the salaries of its workers and make payment to the bank but failed to do so.
“That the loan was for the agreed period of 24 months at the interest of 19 per cent per annum.
– NAN)
