AMCON
From Benjamin a ameh, Lagos
Due to N50bn debt, Court orders AMCON to take-over MMA 2, Old Federal Secretariat, others; Appoints Agbakoba as receiver manager.
Dr. Wale Babalakin, the owner of Bi-Courtney group of companies and Senior Advocate of Nigeria saw the judgment as not the best of time.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos has ordered the company and its owner to hand-over its concessionary powers to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) with immediate effect following their inability to pay N50billion debt owed the asset managers.
Furthermore, the court ordered Bi-Courtney’s account in banks to be frozen with immediate effect just as it ordered the banks to disclose all account balances to the asset managers.
In additions, AMCON was ordered to take over three other giant companies: namely, Chartered Investment Limited, Resort International Limited and Roygate properties, including Bi-Courtney are now to be controlled by AMCON.
The order, according to the court takes effect immediately in accordance with a concessionary agreement with the Federal Government.
It also ordered AMCON to take over the Old Federal Secretariat building Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Roygate Properties pursuant to a concessionary agreement between Roygate and the Federal Government.
The order was however predicated on the companies’ inability to pay the N50billion debt owed AMCON by Bi-Courtney group and other related companies belonging to Babalakin and AMCON, which ceded judgment in favour of the asset managers.
Accordingly, the court empowered a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to commence a recovery process with a view to recovering the companies’ assets and enforcing the liability of individual shareholders and directors.
Court specifically directed Agbakoba to manage the companies’ affairs so as to recover debts owed AMCON.