The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on Tuesday took over the building and company of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Buba Galadima, over an alleged N900 million debt.
The seizure is not political but part of the ongoing drive to recover the N5 trillion owed AMCON, an official of the debt recovery corporation said. Galadima has been a strident critic of the Buhari government.
The AMCON Head of Corporate Communications, Jude Nwauzor, confirmed the development in a statement on Tuesday.
He said the company, Galadima and Bedko Nigeria Limited, owe AMCON nearly N900 million which was purchased during the first phase of Eligible Bank Assets purchase from Unity Bank Plc in 2011.
Last year, the Federal Government inaugurated an inter-agency committee to speedily resolve the challenges in recovering the over N5 trillion debts.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who inaugurated the committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, tasked its members to deploy their expertise in the assignment.
The committee is headed by the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye.
Osinbajo said that by constituting the committee, the Federal Government was adopting a new approach in recovering outstanding AMCON debts.
He urged the committee to turn the tide in what had been a difficult process where debtors had continued to default in their payment obligations.
About 67 per cent of the outstanding N5 trillion debt is said to be owed by just 20 individuals/entities.
Following the challenges encountered from the debt-recovery processes and the very limited results so far, the committee is expected to consider other options, including taking enforcement measures in actually recovering the debts.
“One of the terms of reference is for the committee to prepare a report, giving us a sense of what the timelines would be.
Members of the committee include heads and representatives of agencies such as AMCON, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
Others are heads Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The committee is expected to review the status of debts owed to AMCON, deliberate on practical, legal and other strategies for the recovery of the outstanding debts.
It is also expected to prepare a report, which will include a debt recovery work plan with specific timelines for completion.
