The Interview Editors
Following the order of Honourable Justice A.I. Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has taken over assets owned Umaru Baba Abdullahi, the Chief Promoter of Doggi Group Limited over an indebtedness of more than N440m.
This followed an order by Justice A.I Chikere of the Federal High Court Abuja on June 5, 2020.
A statement by the Head of Corporate Communications at AMCON, Jude Nwauzor named Juliet Benson of Benson Reeds Legal Practitioners as its Receiver who moved in to enforce the order on Thursday June 18, 2020.
AMCON took possession of the assets, which include properties situated at Plot 3810, Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and Plot 1274, Cadastral Zone B07, Katampe Hills, Katampe District, Abuja.
The case of Doggi Group Limited and its promoter have been a protracted issue because the loan was purchased during the first phase of Eligible Bank Assets (EBA) purchase from Union Bank Plc way back 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, Doggi Group Limited have remained recalcitrant and unwilling to repay the huge debt to the Corporation.
Nwauzor in the statement said, “Yes, we enforced on the properties today as ordered Justice Chikere’s court, and are grateful to the Federal High Court for working on behalf of Nigerians to recover some of the debts owed the country by a few individuals despite the challenges posed by the dreaded Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to institutions including the judiciary.
“Like we have always said in the past, our priority at AMCON has never been to take over anybody’s properties or assets. Our mandate is to recover Nigeria’s money in the hands of these obligors. Overtime however, we have observed that the obligors enjoy hiding under some legal technicalities to delay even the repayment arrangement they negotiated and signed.
He added, “When you have held several meetings and arrived at an agreement but the obligor decided to make a U-turn by reneging, it leaves AMCON with no other option than to approach the court. In the case of Doggi Group Limited and its promoter, AMCON did everything any responsible and law abiding organistaion ought to do to help the promoter and his business continue to no avail.”
According to AMCON officials, the enforcement on the properties of Doggi Group Limited and Alhaji Umaru Baba Abdullahi is one of the many others that would take place in the coming days, despite the interference in business activities by COVID-19.
