By Ngozi Onyeakusi– A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory in Suits No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1136/2019 has ordered Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to take over the business and assets of Bedko Nigeria Limited and Alhaji Buba Galadima.

Bedko Nigeria Limited and Alhaji Buba Galadima owe AMCON nearly N900million. The loan was purchased during the first phase of Eligible Bank Assets purchase from Unity Bank Plc in 2011. 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, Bedko Nigeria Limited have remained recalcitrant and unwilling to repay the huge debt to the Corporation.

The order, which was granted to AMCON by Honourable Justice A.I. Chikere, the presiding judge gave the government recovery agency the power to take over some properties belonging to the politician. The properties include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and house No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2 also in high-brow area of Abuja.

Alhaji Buba Galadima is a prominent Nigerian politician and engineer who formally was the Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency (NMA) from 1996 to 1998. He was appointed National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Party, which was formed then in the run-up to the 2011 national elections as a leading platform for now incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

It would also be recalled that Galadima is one of the nine signatories that signed the merger agreement between some political parties that came together, including the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Congress for Progressive Change (CPC); All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) to form the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), which is the platform on which the current president of Nigeria contested and won the 2015 presidential election.

The enforcement on the properties of Bedko Nigeria Limited and Alhaji Buba Galadima is one of the many others that would happen this year given the additional powers AMCON received from President Buhari late last year. Recall that aside the fact that the federal government set up the Inter-Agency Committee on the recovery of AMCON debt, President Buhari also signed the 2019 Amended AMCON Act into law. The amendment gives AMCON additional powers to go after all obligors of the Corporation no matter how highly placed in the society.

Having taking over the properties, Jude Nwauzor, Head of Corporate Communications of AMCON said the Corporation will take all necessary actions, which includes asset take-over, liquidation, winding-up and garnishee proceedings against Bedko Nigeria Limited and its directors in line with the Court judgement and relevant sections of AMCON Act as amended.

AMCON led by Mr Ahmed Kuru as Managing Director/Chief Executive has intensified efforts at recovering the over N5trillion outstanding indebtedness to AMCON. The AMCON CEO have repeatedly reiterated the fact that AMCON under his leadership will do whatever it takes within the law to recover the huge debt, and will not mind the status of the obligor in the discharge of the duties of AMCON.