The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered an additional $40 million from Nestoil Limited amid an ongoing investigation involving the oil and gas company, its affiliate Neconde Energy Limited and a consortium of lenders, bringing total recoveries under a repayment arrangement to $100 million.
According to the lenders, the latest payment was made on October 19, 2026, following an earlier recovery of $60 million reported by Nairametrics on August 17, 2026.
The lenders described the latest payment as a significant development in efforts to recover outstanding debts owed by Nestoil, although a substantial portion of the company’s total indebtedness remains unpaid.
EFCC Chairman Facilitates Repayment Agreement
The recovery followed a structured repayment arrangement reached at a meeting chaired by EFCC Chairman Olanipekun Olukoyede as part of efforts to resolve the dispute and facilitate repayments to the affected financial institutions.
The agreement established a framework for settling the outstanding obligations in an orderly manner, subject to the terms agreed upon by the parties and applicable laws.
The lenders welcomed the latest payment, describing it as an encouraging step towards recovering the outstanding funds. They also reaffirmed their commitment to working with the EFCC and other relevant stakeholders to ensure full repayment.
According to the lenders, the recovery has broader implications for Nigeria’s financial system, particularly in protecting the interests of financial institutions and other stakeholders.
“The recovery of funds owed to financial institutions ultimately serves to protect the interests of lenders, depositors and other legitimate stakeholders whose funds are deployed in the financial system,” the lenders stated.
Although the cumulative recovery of $100 million represents considerable progress, the process remains ongoing, with a significant portion of the outstanding debt still awaiting settlement under the agreed repayment plan.
The lenders said they would continue collaborating with the EFCC and other relevant parties to ensure the remaining obligations are settled in accordance with the agreement.
Background to Nestoil’s Debt Dispute
The dispute involves a consortium of financial institutions comprising Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Ecobank, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), First Bank of Nigeria Limited, First City Monument Bank, United Bank for Africa Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
In June 2026, the lenders disclosed that Nestoil’s total indebtedness had risen to approximately $1.084 billion and ₦469.43 billion. They maintained that the obligations remained outstanding despite several attempts to restructure the credit facilities.
According to the lenders, Nestoil began obtaining bilateral credit facilities from the financial institutions in 2010.
The loans were subsequently consolidated under a restructuring arrangement known as the “Global Club” after the company proposed combining the facilities to simplify the administration and repayment of its obligations. The restructuring took effect in 2023.
However, the lenders alleged that repayment defaults persisted after the restructuring, with outstanding obligations at one point reaching $240.51 million and ₦141.21 billion.
Court Orders and Receivership
The dispute intensified in October 2025 when the Federal High Court in Lagos granted a Mareva injunction freezing assets, bank accounts and shares linked to Nestoil, Neconde Energy Limited and their promoters across several Nigerian financial institutions.
Court filings at the time placed the alleged indebtedness at approximately $1.01 billion and ₦430 billion as of September 30, 2025.
The court also appointed Abubakar Sulu-Gambari, SAN, as receiver-manager, authorising him to take possession of the identified assets.
Enforcement of the court order resulted in police officers sealing Nestoil’s headquarters on Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Nestoil subsequently maintained that it remained operational and described the matter as a commercial dispute being addressed through the courts.
The legal dispute proceeded through the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, with the parties contesting issues surrounding debt recovery, receivership and interim orders affecting Nestoil and Neconde.
In June 2026, the Supreme Court set aside interim preservative orders previously granted by the Court of Appeal and directed the parties to return to the lower court to address the substantive issues in the dispute.
The lenders subsequently clarified that the Supreme Court’s decision did not extinguish Nestoil’s indebtedness or invalidate the underlying debt recovery process.
The latest recovery brings the total amount reportedly recovered under the repayment arrangement to $100 million, marking a significant development in the protracted dispute between Nestoil and its lenders. However, the repayment process remains incomplete as the parties continue efforts to recover the outstanding obligations.
