FG to pay 5% “Success Fee” on Funds Recovered from Banks

FG to pay 5% “Success Fee” on Funds Recovered from Banks

The federal government would pay 5% “success fee” on actual recoveries made and remitted to designated accounts from stolen fund illegally trapped in various Nigerian banks. The percentage would be made to the FG-appointed fund recovery agent.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, disclosed this while stating the reason for the cancellation of the contract with a fund recovery agent previously engaged by his ministry.

The ministry had engaged the services of Panic Alert Security System [PASS] to “trace, recover and remit Federal government’s funds that are allegedly trapped in Nigerian banks.” The agreement added that the success fee was without an entitlement to a deposit-on-account prior to the commencement of its services. The firm was also to solely bear all expenses incurred during the recovery process.

But on March 24 2016, Malami had written to terminate the contract because George Uboh, owner of PASS, who he said did not disclose his criminal past before signing the agreement with the government.

“When Mr George Uboh offered his services to act as recovery agent for the Federal Government, he did not formally declare that he was a convict in the US associated with credit card fraud,” Malami said.

However, the federal government doesn’t seem to have a policy on the standard percentage to be paid to appointed agents.

While stamp duty agents earn 20% collection fee of the value of stamps they dispose to all 36 states of the federation, FIRS gets 4% of all non-oil taxes it generates for government, and the Nigerian Customs Service gets 7% of all income it generates from import duties and export fees.

Remita (which drives the federal government’s Treasury Single Account project), commercial banks and the Central Bank are to share a 1% collection fee on all funds collected on behalf of government, which is currently a subject of major debate