Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has recovered $60 million from indigenous energy services firm Nestoil, an indigenous oil and gas, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) company in the sector led by energy tycoon Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, as part of a structured settlement plan to resolve its mounting debt to commercial banks.

Consortium tackles massive multi-currency default

EFCC said the recovery came after its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, met with top executives from Nestoil and representatives of an eight-bank lending consortium. Under the brokered agreement, the funds have been handed over to the lenders to begin clearing outstanding obligations. The cash recovery marks a pivotal shift in a bitter, years-long dispute involving Nestoil, and a group of major Nigerian and international financial institutions.

While the lenders accepted the $60 million payout, people familiar with the matter said the banks view the sum as merely a fraction of what they are owed. The consortium includes Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank, African Export-Import Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, First City Monument Bank, United Bank for Africa and Union Bank.

The consortium said in June 2026 that Nestoil’s total unpaid debt had swelled to about $1.084 billion and N469.43 billion, following repeated defaults on earlier repayment agreements. The financial strain dates back to 2010, when Nestoil began securing separate credit lines from the institutions. In 2023, the parties consolidated these bilateral loans into a single restructuring framework known as the “Global Club.”

Nestoil debt crisis pressures tier-1 lender

Despite the overhaul, the lenders alleged that repayment failures persisted, with overdue installments alone reaching $240.51 million and N141.21 billion at one point. The fallout spilled into the open in October 2025 when a Federal High Court in Lagos issued a Mareva injunction freezing accounts and assets tied to Nestoil, its affiliate Neconde Energy and key promoters. The court named Abubakar Sulu-Gambari, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as receiver-manager, prompting police to seal Nestoil’s headquarters on Akin Adesola Street in Victoria Island.

At the time, Nestoil downplayed the enforcement, calling the situation an ordinary commercial disagreement being resolved in court. The unpaid loans have reverberated across Nigeria’s financial sector, forcing major lenders to take heavy loan-loss provisions. Five banking groups—Access Holdings, UBA, Ecobank, First HoldCo and FCMB—recorded a combined N2.16 trillion ($1.6 billion) in impairment charges in their 2025 annual results.

First HoldCo took the hardest hit, booking roughly N748 billion ($553 million) in charges, while UBA set aside N331 billion ($244.4 million). Access Holdings posted impairment charges of N287.3 billion ($212.2 million), and FCMB recorded credit losses of N92.5 billion ($68.3 million). EFCC officials said investigators at the agency’s Lagos office will continue examining the original credit transactions and defaults alongside the ongoing debt recovery process.