The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has seized assets belonging to Alhaji Umaru Baba Abdullahi, the Chief Promoter of Doggi Group Limited over N440 million debt.
The corporation took over the assets after an order of Justice A.I. Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja division on June 5.
In compliance to the enforcement order, AMCON 2020 took effective possession of the two properties through its Receiver – Mrs. Juliet Benson of Benson Reeds Legal Practitioners, which include properties situate at Plot 3810, Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and Plot 1274, Cadastral Zone B07, Katampe Hills, Katampe District, Abuja.
In a statement, AMCON said 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.
Confirming AMCON had enforced on the assets in line with the order of the court, Jude Nwauzor, Head of Corporate Communications Department of the Corporation 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.
“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,”
