Following an order of Honourable Justice I. N. Buba of the Federal High Court Lagos Division, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has taken over assets belonging to Glano Nigeria Limited over a huge indebtedness of over N2billion.
Recall that AMCON, which is established to recover bad debt on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria has been in an endless court battle with Glano Nigeria Limited and its promoters since 2016 but had waited patiently till 2018. Having looked at the case in its entirety, especially regarding efforts AMCON made to resolve the loan amicably without cooperation from the obligor, the court finally decided to back AMCON’s takeover of Glano Nigeria Limited.
In compliance with the enforcement order, AMCON on Thursday, April 6, 2023, took effective possession of Glano Nigeria Limited property located at No. 22 Woji Road Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, which had been under the management of Sterling Law Alliance since 2019.
Apart from granting AMCON possession of the property situate at No. 22 Woji Road Port Harcourt, the court also ordered AMCON to take all necessary steps required to realise the assets of the obligor within the judicial division, by seizing and taking any money bank notes, cheques, bills of exchange, promissory note, and all forms of bonds of security for money, with a view to realising the huge outstanding debt.
The case of Glano Nigeria Limited and its promoter has been a protracted issue because the loan was purchased during the third phase of Eligible Bank Assets (EBA) from United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc way back in 2013. Since then, AMCON has offered the obligor a good measure of olive branches, and explored all avenues to resolve the matter amicably, but the obligor and his company, Glano Nigeria Limited remained recalcitrant and unwilling to repay the huge debt to the Corporation.
Confirming the story, Jude Nwauzor, Head Corporate Communications Department of AMCON said, the enforcement came after a long period of meticulous court battle. The Corporation eventually enforced on the properties on April 6, 2023, as ordered by the Federal High Court. The enforcement according to him was carried out in a seamless manner especially as the court had also directed the Nigerian Police Force, officials of the court, and other security agencies to assist AMCON in securing the assets.
Recall that AMCON was created to be a key stabilising and re-vitalising tool aimed at reviving the financial system by efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of the banks in the Nigerian economy. The Corporation has done remarkably well in stabilising the financial sector but is now faced with the hardcore of recovering its huge investments in the sector.
Currently armed with the re-energised AMCON Act, which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law, and backed by strong judicial support, the Management of AMCON led by Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director/CEO had since switched its recovery strategy to enforcement mode as a result of obligor’s antics of hiding under some technicalities of law to evade repayment. As a result, the government agency has been in some form of rapid response with its enforcement activities across the country regardless of some daunting recovery challenges posed by obligors.