Nwabuoku Loses Assets to AMCON Over N1.3bn Debt

By Adedapo Adesanya

A property belonging Mr Ike Nwabuoku, Unicorn Place & Leisure Services Limited, has been taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

A statement issued by the Head, Corporate Communications Department at AMCON, Mr Jude Nwauzor, disclosed that the asset was taken over an alleged N1.3 billion debt.

This came days after the agency announced takin over another property for a similar reason.

In the statement, Mr Nwauzor noted that Mr Nwabuoku’s company was taken over after the corporation received a order from Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court, Lagos division.

According to him, in compliance to the enforcement order, AMCON took effective possession of the two properties through its Debt Recovery Agent –Mr Kayode Ajekigbe of Chris O. Okunowo & Co, which include properties situated at 1 & 2, Kwara Street, Osborne, Ikoyi, Lagos and Plot 23 Block 65, Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme, both in Lagos State.

The court also ordered that the bank accounts of the company and its major stakeholders, Mr Ike Nwabuoku, and one other named Mr Ifechukwu A. Onyema be frozen pending the final determination of the suit.

The case of Unicorn Place & Leisure Services Limited and its promoters has been interminable because the loan was purchased by AMCON during the 1st phase of its Eligible Bank Assets (EBA) purchases from Keystone Bank since 2011.

Since the purchase, AMCON has offered the obligor all sorts of concessions and explored all avenues to resolve the debt harmoniously, but the obligor and his company Unicorn Place & Leisure Services Limited have remained recalcitrant and unenthusiastic to repay the huge debt to AMCON.

AMCON said it enforced the necessary measures on the assets and froze the accounts in line with the order of the court, adding that all avenues of peaceful resolution were explored to no avail before AMCON made the hard decision, which led to the eventual takeover of the assets.

“AMCON before now held several meetings with the obligor and arrived at agreements in principle, but the obligor always made a turnaround to default, leaving AMCON with no other option than to approach the court and in the wisdom of the honourable court secured the order to take over.

“Even with the rampaging cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, AMCON from all indications has no intention of slowing down in achieving its recovery mandate.

“The takeover of Unicorn Place & Leisure Services Limited is coming few days after the government recovery agency also took over the two buildings belonging to Doggi Group Limited in high-brow areas of Asokoro and Katampe Hills in Abuja,” the statement added.

The corporation also seized multi-billion naira properties on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Isheri, Ogun State over a N9.8 million debt on Thursday.

The assets included buildings and a filling station sitting on a 30-hectare land near OPIC Estates.