Effective immediately, the Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered Bi-Courtney group of companies and its owner, Wale Babalakin, to hand over its concessionary powers to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) following their inability to pay a N50 billion debt owed the asset managers.
Besides, the court ordered Bi-Courtney’s account in banks to be frozen with immediate effect just as it ordered the banks to disclose all account balances to the asset managers.
Also, AMCON was ordered to take over three other companies. They are Chartered Investment Limited, Resort International Limited and Roygate properties, including Bi-Courtney now to be controlled by AMCON.
The order, according to the court, takes effect immediately in accordance with a concessionary agreement with the Federal Government.
It also ordered AMCON to take over the Old Federal Secretariat building in Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Roygate Properties pursuant to a concessionary agreement between Roygate and the Federal Government.
The order was, however, predicated on the companies’ inability to pay the N50 billion debt owed AMCON by Bi-Courtney group and other related companies belonging to Babalakin and AMCON, which ceded judgement in favour of the asset managers.
Accordingly, the court empowered a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), to commence a recovery process with a view to recovering the companies’ assets and enforcing the liability of individual shareholders and directors.
Specifically, the court mandated Agbakoba to manage the companies’ affairs so as to recover debts owed AMCON.
