A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday gave an interim order granting Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) possession of Ibafon Oil Tank Farm, pending determination of a substantive suit before it.
Justice Okon Abang also ordered the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to deposit N1.2 billion out of N10 billion subsidy arrears due to Ibafon Oil Tank Farm, into an interest yielding account.
The account is to be specified by the court’s Chief Registrar for the deposit, pending determination of the substantive suit fixed for Oct. 5.
Abang gave the order while granting a motion exparte filed by Mr Olisa Agbakoba, counsel to AMCON on Sept. 5, praying the court to grant the applicant possession of the oil tank farm.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the applicant is a government intervention institution created for the purpose of resolving non-performing loan assets of banks in Nigeria and is the plaintiff in the substantive suit.
Ibafon oil tank farm, which has Mr Mamemo Ibru as its chief executive, is the respondent to the application and defendant in the main suit.
AMCON in its statement of claims before the court, averred that it had acquired the non-performing loan of the respondent from Legacy Oceanic International Bank Plc, on Dec. 31, 2010.
It claimed that the bank had given out credit facilities to the respondent on Sept. 26, 2007 and Aug. 5, 2008 for the sum of N636 Million and N750 Million respectively.
It said that the respondent, contrary to the terms of the loan facility, had defaulted in repayment as at Dec. 31, 2010.
The corporation also said that the indebtedness of the respondent to the bank now stood at N 1.2 billion.
According to it, due to the failure of the respondent to offset the loan, AMCON became subrogated in place of the bank to recover the debt.
The plaintiff further averred that it had purchased the non-performing loan of the respondent from Legacy Oceanic and now seeks to claim the sum against the respondent.
AMCON also said that it was claiming the sum of N1.2 billion from the respondent at the interest rate of 21 per cent per annum, until judgement was delivered, and at 19 per cent until final liquidation of the debt.
The respondent, through its counsel, Mr Kingsley Nwoke, had stated in the counter affidavit that it was never indebted to the bank for the sum which the plaintiff was seeking to take over.
Nwoke had also stated that the respondent was not aware of any obligation it owed to the bank which accumulated to the sum.
It argued that the purported takeover of the asset was illegal, null and void, since the respondent did not have any non-performing loan with Oceanic International Bank. (NAN)
