Reps direct BPE to pay N189m to privatized agency investor

The House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation has directed the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to pay N189 million to the investor of the National Clearing and Forwarding Agency (NACFA). This was part of the resolution passed by the committee during an investigative hearing on a dispute over properties belonging to Jorotom International […]

The House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation has directed the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to pay N189 million to the investor of the National Clearing and Forwarding Agency (NACFA).

This was part of the resolution passed by the committee during an investigative hearing on a dispute over properties belonging to Jorotom International Agency Limited, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the Ministry of Defence.

The committee warned that BPE risks not having any allocation in the 2022 budget or any other legislative engagements if it failed to comply with the directive.

The committee also called on Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), Messrs Jorotom International Agency Limited, Ministry of Defence and other parties to settle their lingering dispute out of court.

The dispute was over the sealing of the company’s property in Lagos and a NACFA land in Kano occupied by the Nigerian Army.

Jorotom acquired 100% of the federal government’s equity in NACFA in 2006 at N3.6 billion with a loan from the reformed Skye Bank now Polaris Bank and under AMCON custody.

Based on the loan facility and accruing interest, AMCON sealed the company’s Lagos property while its plot occupied by the military has not been paid for by the Ministry of Defence.

AMCON filed a case at the Federal High Court and Supreme Court over the failure to offset the debt. However, the matter was reported to the House committee which invited the parties.

The General Manager of Jorotom, Adeniyi Dare, said their property in Lagos was sealed by AMCON leading to the loss of about 1000 jobs.

He said also, the military had also been occupying their property in Kano since 2006 adding that the Federal Ministry of Defence showed interest to buy the land but stated that they undervalued the land and offered N2.2 billion in 2016, noting that even this has not been paid by the ministry.