The Chairman, Resort Group, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has berated the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, for publishing the names of his firms on its list of “delinquent debtors”.
Babalakin contended that if AMCON removed N49bn, which his companies allegedly owed, from a judgment credit of N132bn, which he got against the Federal Government, he would still have to be paid N83bn by the government.
Apart from this, he said he got another judgment credit of N100bn against the Federal Government in December 2015, which had yet to be paid.
In a statement on Tuesday by his lawyer, Wale Akoni (SAN), Babalakin described as libellous and irresponsible the listing and publication of his firms’ names among AMCON’s delinquent debtors.
Akoni said, “On April 5, 2012, the Federal High Court, in FHC/ABJ/CS/50/2009 – Bi-Courtney Limited vs Attorney-General of the Federation – ordered that whatever debt was outstanding to any federal agency by Bi-Courtney and companies related to it should be deducted from the sum of over N132bn which the Federal Government owes Bi-Courtney.
“If N49bn, the sum allegedly owed by Bi-Courtney and companies associated with it, is subtracted from N132bn, my clients still have a judgment credit of N83bn, which the Federal Government has yet to pay.
“There was another court judgment on December 3, 2015, against the Federal Government in a case involving Resort International Limited, one of the companies associated with Bi-Courtney, in which the FG was ordered to pay the firm N55bn at an interest rate of 17 per cent per annum, an interest rate of 17 per cent per annum, an amount that is now in excess of N100bn.
“It was irresponsible of AMCON to publish the names of my clients on its list of debtors and I urge the media to beware of this misguided behaviour and disdain for the rule of law.”