Fresh facts emerged on Wednesday about the funds trapped in the failed banks. About N94.4bn belonging to ministries, departments and agencies of the government are believed to have been trapped. The revelation is contained in a motion on the Notice Paper of the Senate slated for debate today.

The Senate had last week, disclosed that N188bn of depositors’ funds were trapped in the failed banks. Its committee on banking had on July 7, said that N53.3bn of the N188bn was taken as loans by some directors of the affected banks.

It also noted that out of the N53.3 bn, only N4.7bn was recovered.

But the sponsors of the motion — Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw and 11 other senators — argued that the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation should have submitted all information regarding financial transactions with the failed banks to the Senator Nkechi Nwaogu-led committee.

The lawmakers said that N94.4bn of public funds deposits was discovered later.

Nwaogu is one of the 11 senators behind the motion. Others are Senators Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN); the Deputy Senate Leader, Uche Chukwumerije; Osita Izunaso, Felix Bajomo, Alhaji Ahmed Lawan, Mr. Lee Maeba, Ikechukwu Obiorah, Omar Hambagda, James Manager and Smart Adeyemi.

In the motion, the senators observed that “the schedule submitted to the Senate Committee by NDIC does not cover public sector liabilities amounting to N94.4bn also trapped in the failed banks.”

They, therefore, called on the NDIC and the Central Bank of Nigeria to provide the Senate with a detailed breakdown of the N94.4bn public sector liabilities showing the ministries, agencies and departments that are affected.

They also demanded to know the amount trapped in each of the failed banks and their directors.

The report of the Senate Committee on Banking had indicated that N902.9m and N172.5m belonging to the Presidential Committee on the Disposal of Properties in the Games Village, Abuja were trapped in Fortune International Bank Plc and All States Trust Bank Plc respectively.

It argued that the CBN, the NDIC or any other agency did not have the power to write off the amounts owed by those who had engaged in insider credit abuses.

According to the motion, stern and effective measures should be taken to recover the amounts misappropriated by those involved.

It added that appropriate sanctions should be imposed as deterrent against future abuses.

Ewa-Henshaw and his colleagues, therefore, asked the Senate to urge the Federal Government to ensure that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the NDIC, the CBN, and other relevant agencies, took steps to recover the outstanding sums from the debtors.

Stressing that those who might not be able to pay back should be prosecuted, they recommended that the relevant agencies should embark on forensic examinations of bank assets to determine among others: - “If any loans or risks assets of N50m and above had similar defects as have been revealed in the NDIC schedule; and - the true ownership of all the bank branch buildings as this is one area where banks have been defrauded of their assets.

They also asked the Senate to summon the CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi and the NDIC Managing Director, Dr. Ganiyu Ogunleye, to explain what steps they had taken in their supervision of the operation of the banks to avoid similar occurrence in the future.

Nwaogu, while briefing journalists shortly after her committee’s report was tabled before the Senate on July 9, had explained that the members did not investigate private individuals who also got loans but defaulted in repayment.