By Maduabuchi Ubani
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has said it has taken over of the assets of Hydro Hotels Limited, “whose total indebtedness was over N600 million.”
This was confirmed at the weekend in a statement by the Head of Corporate Communications Department of AMCON, Jude Nwauzor.
Affirming the decision of the Federal High Court in Minna, Niger State, the statement quoted the Court of Appeal through Justice Habeeb A.O. Abiru, Justice Abubakar Datti Yahaya and Justice Amina Audi Wambai in the suit No: CA/A/70/2018 involving AMCON vs. Hydro Hotels Limited, to have granted AMCON judgment against Hydro Hotels Limited and its Chief Promoter, Alhaji Isah Mohammed Ladan, over the aforementioned sum.
The statement also disclosed that the court ordered the forfeiture of moveable and immoveable assets of the hotel and Ladan, and further granted AMCON the full possession and outright power of sale of the properties.
AMCON has remained active since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the amended AMCON Act into law. The amendment provides the government agency additional powers to go after its obligors, majority of whom have remained recalcitrant for years, the statement added.
According to the statement, “Armed with the order, AMCON, through its appointed Debt Recovery Agent, Ajunwa and Co., took effective possession of four top properties of the obligor, which included those situated at Plot 165/166 MTP. 95A, measuring 0.300 hectares at Farm Centre, Tunga Ward, near New Secretariat in Minna; Plot 173 and 174 MTP. 95A, consisting of 0.414 hectares; property at No. 1 Wawa Road, New Bussa, Niger State, and property at No. 82 Garkuwas, New Bussa, Niger State.
“The case of Hydro Hotels Limited and its promoter has been a prolonged issue as the loan was purchased by AMCON during the first phase of Eligible Bank Assets (EBA) purchases from Finbank (now FCMB) in 2010. Following the purchase, AMCON has been in a long drawn legal battle with the company since 2015; first winning the case against the obligor at the Federal High Court, Minna, in 2017 and now at the Court of Appeal in August 2020.
“As a matter of fact, due to the lack of adequate collateral, AMCON’s expanded investigation on Ladan revealed other hidden properties belonging to the obligor located in Niger State, which were hitherto not known to AMCON. This action to expand investigation and trace additional assets is in line with Section 49 (1) & (2) of the AMCON Act 2019 (as Amended).”
