We Have Lost N20billion Since AMCON’s Intervention Businessman Edward Akinlade Claims

Edward Akinlade whose company is embroiled in legal tussle with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over a N13.5 billion loan his organisation obtained from defunct Oceanic Bank Plc, said his company has lost over N20 billion since 2017 when his troubles with AMCON started.

Akinlade, who is the Group Managing Director, Suru Group Limited, claimed that the company obtained a loan of N13.5 billion from Oceanic Bank (now Ecobank) in 2006. He said as at 2010, the company withdrew N10 billion with an outstanding balance of N3.5 billion when Oceanic Bank was acquired by Ecobank.

According to him, a twist occurred when Ecobank wrote to his organisation, stating that it has no money to continue to fund the facility and has subsequently sold the loan to AMCON.

AMCON was set up by the government to acquire Non-Performing Loans from banks and other financial institutions. The Suru Group chief said he questioned the rationale behind the move by the bank to offload the loan to AMCON since the facility was performing. The loan, he said, “did not qualify to be taken over by AMCON since it was a performing loan.”

Akinlade said he felt an act of illegality was playing out here and so he approached the courts to seek redress and to forestall what he tagged ‘an illegal act’,’ saying such a step was against the AMCON Act, 2010.

He said he engaged AMCON for settlement and they agreed to a settlement sum N6.3billion from AMCON in 2015 since it had earlier paid AMCON over N2.4billion before 2012. He said despite the move, some AMCON staff members have worked to frustrate the effort by even going ahead to block the company from having access to foreign loan.

He expressed confidence that like in the previous cases that have been adjudicated upon in the Federal High Court in Lagos and the Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division, he would be vindicated in the case pending at the Supreme Court to which AMCON has appealed. “I am very confident in the country’s judicial system to follow through the law and bring justice to the oppressed. However, I thank the judicial arm of the government for its unbiased judicial conduct and implore the general public to remain law abiding,” Akinlade said.

The Suru Group chief said his hotel, Best Western Hotel, in Ikeja was being occupied by AMCON and called on the toxic debt body to vacate the property in obedience to the Federal High Court ruling.

“I am calling on the management of AMCON to obey the court order, as its action had grounded the hotel. This is a property that is under litigation at the Supreme Court level. I am surprised at the level of impunity displayed by AMCON. How can you renovate a property that is under legal assessment, which is in favour of Suru Group? Akinlade queried, saying, “this is by law contempt of the court.

“We are, particularly, dissatisfied with the blatant disregard of the rule of law being displayed by a highly revered agency such as AMCON, being a mechanism in the temple of justice that ought to respect and uphold the tenets of law rather than disrespect the court. As far as I’m concerned, this action by AMCON is a fraud,” he stated.

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