The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria,yesterday took over the operations of, Arik Air, and appointed Capt. Roy Ukpebo Ilegbodu as its new manager.
TheNewsGuru.com gathered that the embattled airline was indebted to alone to the tune of over N300bn, with AMCON alone owed N135bn.
Officials of the aviation arm of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and AMCON revealed yesterday that Arik was immersed in a heavy financial debt burden that was threatening to permanently ground the airline.
AMCON stated in a statement that for some time now, the airline, which carries about 55 per cent of the load in the country, had been going through difficult times, attributable to its bad corporate governance, erratic operations, inability to pay staff salaries and heavy debt burden, among other issues.
This, it said, led to calls on the government to intervene before Arik would go under like many before it.
It stated that the takeover, which underscored the government’s decision to instil sanity in the nation’s aviation sector, had prevented a major catastrophe that would, among other factors, protect and preserve Arik Air as a going concern.
The development, AMCON said, would afford Arik to go back to regular and undisrupted operations, avoid job losses, protect investors and stakeholders’ funds as well as ensure safety and stability in the already challenged aviation sector.
“The airline will now be managed by Capt. Roy Ukpebo Ilegbodu, a veteran aviation expert, under the receivership of Mr. Oluseye Opasanya SAN,” AMCON said in the statement.
Explaining the reason for the takeover, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Siriki, was quoted to have said, “We believe that this appointment (of Ilegbodu) is timely and will stabilise the operations of the airline.
“This will enhance the long-term economic value of Arik Air and revitalise the airline’s ailing operations as well as sustain safety standards in view of Arik Air’s pivotal role in the Nigerian aviation sector.”
The minister pledged that the Federal Ministry of Aviation would support the new management of the strategic carrier, adding that all necessary steps had been taken to ensure that there would be no undue disruption to Arik’s regular business operations or activities of other stakeholders on account of the change in the leadership and management of the airline.
Ilegbodu also assured both the staff members of the airline and all other stakeholders that his appointment would enhance the value of the airline, improve customer experience, and sustain the safety, reliable and secure operational history of the airline before all those were eroded.