Photo caption: Managing Director, AMCON, Gbenga Alade
The Federal Government has inaugurated a new Board of Directors for the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, with a directive to strengthen asset recovery and commence a credible, time-bound wind-down of the Corporation.
According to a statement by the Director of Information and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Mohammed Manga, on Thursday, the inauguration, which took place on Tuesday in Abuja, was conducted by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, who stated that the new leadership of AMCON must reposition the institution in line with global best practices and support ongoing macroeconomic reforms.
“AMCON must evolve from a stabiliser of last resort to a disciplined vehicle for value creation and responsible exit,” the minister said. “A credible wind-down will not only free up resources but also reinforce our broader goal of a transparent, investment-friendly financial system.”
Edun also stressed the importance of efficient asset recovery and institutional accountability in a fiscally constrained environment, noting that these are essential for Nigeria to remain a competitive destination for investment and enterprise.
The newly appointed board is chaired by Dr Bala Bello. Other members include Mr Gbenga Alade as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer; Mr Adeshola Lamidi, Mr Lucky Adaghe and Mr Aminu Mukthar Dan’Amu as Executive Directors; and Mr Yusuf Tegina (North Central), Mr Adeyemo Adeoye (South-West), Mr Charles Odion Iyiore (South-South), Mr Yahaya Ibrahim (North-West) and Ms Emily Chidinma Osuji (South-East) as Non-Executive Directors.
In his remarks, the AMCON Managing Director, Mr Gbenga Alade, assured the government of the board’s full commitment to the Corporation’s mandate, stating that AMCON was never intended to exist indefinitely.
“We are here to conclude, not to continue indefinitely,” he said. “We will benchmark our exit plan against global models and deliver a process that serves the national interest.”
The Federal Government described the reconstitution of the AMCON board as a strategic move to unlock balance sheet space for banks, support financial sector reform, and strengthen private sector participation in the economy.
AMCON was set up in 2010 to help fix the banking crisis caused by the 2008 global financial meltdown.
Its job was to buy bad loans from troubled banks and stabilise the financial system.
However, AMCON has been criticised for lagging in transparency and lacking a clear plan to shut down, among other issues.
Lagos secures over 120 convictions of sex offenders in one year
No fewer than 120 individuals were convicted for various forms of sexual and gender-based violence in Lagos State between January and December 2024, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has revealed.
The agency disclosed this exclusively to PUNCH Metro on Thursday, following its report that a staggering 9,279 domestic violence cases were recorded in the state within the same year.
The report also highlighted that about 3,215 children were subjected to different forms of abuse during the period, with most of the perpetrators being relatives or individuals familiar to the victims.
In response to the alarming figures, the DSVA said the state government was adopting a technology-driven and preventive approach to tackle the crisis.
However, human rights advocates insisted that the government must do more to protect vulnerable groups and support survivors.
Many activists also expressed concern that the real scale of abuse might be underreported, as victims often hesitate to come forward due to stigma, fear, or lack of trust in the system.
When asked about convictions in the period under review, the Executive Secretary of the DSVA, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, confirmed that the state had made significant strides in prosecuting offenders.
“In the last year, the Lagos State Government has secured more than 120 convictions for sexual and gender-based violence,” she said, adding that, “Some of these convictions range from life imprisonment to 65-year jail terms.”
The founder of DOHS Cares Foundation and femicide report curator, Ololade Ajayi, urged the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to actively support the fight against sexual and gender-based violence.
“We should ask the right questions: Why are the police frustrating this? Is it corruption? Are they insensitive? Is it the lack of funding for the police? And then fix it,” she said.
Ajayi also decried the slow pace of justice in sexual assault cases, questioning the level of government support for survivors.
“Why is the rape trial process so lengthy? What has the government put in place to support survivors? What might discourage them from speaking up or seeking justice?,” she asked.
US court jails Nigerian for $1m scam
A United States District Court has sentenced a 37-year-old Nigerian, Henry Ezeonyido, to 27 months imprisonment for his role in a $1m insurance fraud.
PUNCH Metro learnt in a statement by the US Department of Justice on Thursday that Ezeonyido perpetrated the fraud between October 2019 and February 2022.
The statement noted that during the period mentioned above, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims to five insurance companies, claiming that he was involved in a series of accidents while travelling abroad.
The convict was also said to have filed similar fraudulent claims for seven other people, leading to a total of over $1m in claims.
The statement read, “Ezeonyido was arrested and charged in July 2024 along with co-conspirators Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler and Ariel Lambert. Ezeonyido was later indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. All four of Ezeonyido’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were subsequently sentenced to probation.
“From approximately October 2019 to February 2022, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims – on his behalf and on behalf of at least seven other individuals, including Ashe, Atherton, Cobbler and Lambert – to five different health insurance companies for expensive medical treatment that they purportedly received and paid for out-of-pocket while travelling overseas.
“Many of the claims included fake traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds, and hit-and-run car accidents that the defendants and others purportedly suffered, requiring their hospitalisation abroad. In nearly all instances, the individuals were actually in the United States at the time of the purported international medical events.”
Ezeonyido reportedly fabricated medical records to show the medical care received, fabricated bank records to show payment to the international treatment facilities, and, where the claim related to a fake traumatic injury, fabricated police reports describing the circumstances of the alleged event.
Following the claims, the insurance companies paid approximately $655,313 in claims to the affected individuals, some of whom were said to have paid kickbacks to Ezeonyido for helping them facilitate the claims.
It continued, “As a result of these fraudulent claims, the victim’s health insurance companies were billed over $1m for services that were never provided, resulting in payments totalling approximately $655,313.
“Upon receiving these payments from their health insurance companies, Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert, and others paid a portion of the proceeds to Ezeonyido and other co-conspirators, including Atherton, who acted as an intermediary, bringing others into the scheme in exchange for a cut of their paid claims. In total, Ezeonyido retained approximately $396,998 in fraud proceeds.”
Following his arraignment before US District Judge Leo Sorokin, the defendant pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment.
“In February 2025, Ezeonyido pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud.
“Ezeonyido, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 27 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
“Ezeonyido was also ordered to pay $655,313 in restitution and to forfeit $396,998 in criminal proceeds,” the statement concluded.
