Buba Galadima, Buhari’s arch critic loses properties to AMCON

 

• Over N900 million debt

 

BY OUR EDITOR

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said Tuesday it has taken over the private residence of Alhaji Buba Galadima, a staunch critic and former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The seizure followed an order of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, mandating AMCON to take over the business and assets of Bedko Nigeria Limited and Alhaji Buba Galadima.

Galadima, who said he fell out with President Buhari because of alleged injustice in his administration, lack of inclusiveness and failure of the administration to secure Nigeria, lost two choice properties in the high-brow Wuse area of Abuja, to AMCON.

Bedko Nigeria Limited and Alhaji Buba Galadima, according to a statement by AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communication, Jude Nwauzor, owed the Corporation “nearly N900 million”.

The loan was said to have been purchased during the first phase of Eligible Bank Assets purchase from Unity Bank Plc in 2011.

“Since then, AMCON had offered the obligor a good measure of olive branches and explored all avenues to resolve the matter amicably, but the obligor, and his company, Bedko Nigeria Limited have remained recalcitrant and unwilling to repay the huge debt to the Corporation,” said Nwauzor.

He added: “The order, which was granted to AMCON by Honourable Justice A.I. Chikere, the presiding judge gave the government recovery agency the power to take over some properties belonging to the politician. The properties include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and house No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2 also in high-brow area of Abuja.”

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Galadima, was the Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency (NMA) from 1996 to 1998. He was appointed National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Party, which was formed then in the run-up to the 2011 national elections as a leading platform for now incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

It would also be recalled that he was one of the nine signatories that signed the merger agreement among some political parties that led to the formation of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in 2015.

“The enforcement on the properties of Bedko Nigeria Limited and Alhaji Buba Galadima is one of the many others that would happen this year given the additional powers AMCON received from President Buhari late last year. Recall that aside the fact that the federal government set up the Inter-Agency Committee on the recovery of AMCON debt, President Buhari also signed the 2019 Amended AMCON Act into law. The amendment gives AMCON additional powers to go after all obligors of the Corporation no matter how highly placed in the society,” Nwauzor said.

AMCON, according to Nwauzor, will take all necessary actions, including asset take-over, liquidation, winding-up and garnishee proceedings against Bedko Nigeria Limited and its directors in line with the Court judgment and relevant sections of AMCON Act as amended.

The Corporation led by Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director/Chief Executive, has intensified efforts at recovering over N5 trillion outstanding debt owed it.