Victor Ezeja
Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has threatened to liquidate Arik Air and other business organisations still indebted to it.
AMCON said that as of 31st December 2024, the total debt it is owed by various business organisations including Arik Air stood at ₦455.171 billion (four hundred fifty five billion, one hundred and seventy one million, seven hundred and sixty four thousand, seven hundred and seventy two naira eighty kobo).
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIt vowed to use all legitimate means at its disposal to recover the monies from the companies.
AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communications Unit, Jude Nwauzor, made this known during a media briefing on Friday.
Giving the breakdown of the total debts, Nwauzor stated that Arik Air as of December 2024, owed AMCON ₦227,637,469,394.34 billion; Rockson Engineering, ₦163,502,837,397.75 billion, while Ojemai Farms owed the corporation another ₦14,031,457,980.71 billion, totaling N455,171,764,772.80.
Both Rockson Engineering and Ojemai Farms are owned by Arik Air owner, Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide.
READ ALSO: AMCON Explains What Happened To Arik Air’s 3 Aircraft After Takeover
Speaking on AMCON’s involvement in Arik Air, Nwauzor said it was in February 2017 when the Federal Government mandated it to intervene and save the airline from liquidation.
AMCON, a debt recovery agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, insisted that it didn’t take over the running of Arik Air by fiat as claimed in some quarters, but the banks, including Union Bank and Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank), Zenith, Access, Standard Chattered, Afrexim, which the airline owed billions of naira, sold the non-performing loans of Arik to AMCON.
While countering narratives about AMCON’s intervention in Arik Air Nwauzor stated that the takeover followed all the due processes in accordance with the Act setting up AMCON, and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to him, AMCON had been part of Arik Air since 2011 but was compelled to take over the company in 2017 through the appointment of a receiver manager after several interventions failed.
He emphasised that the AMCON Amendment Act, 2021 empowers the corporation to among other things, take possession, manage, or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether such asset or property is used as security/collateral for obtaining the loan in particular.
He explained that the receiver manager also had the option of either managing or selling off the assets of a debtor company like Arik Air, but AMCON was mandated to ensure that the airline did not die by the Federal Government.
He said that at the time AMCON took over Arik Air in 2017, there was zero naira to run the airline. According to him, both KPMG and PwC reports pronounced the airline insolvent before AMCON appointed a receiver manager.
He vowed that no matter the blackmail, AMCON will take all necessary and legitimate steps to recover the debts.
“If push comes to shove, AMCON still has the option to liquidate the company and any other debtor organisations. But, we are still today managing Arik, which was insolvent in 2015 and 2016 before AMCON stepped in,” he added.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
