Henry Okosun, Managing Director of Abadat Ventures, the company belonging to Dr. AbdulFatai Buhari, senator representing Oyo North Senatorial District, has reacted to the reported seizure of some of his Abuja properties by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
According to him, AMCON was wrong, neither him nor his company sought any loan.
REPORTERS AT LARGE earlier reported that the AMCON said it has taken over assets belonging to Senator Buhari over an alleged N600m debt taken by his company, Abadat Ventures Limited.
AMCON said in a statement by its Spokesman, Jude Nwauzor, that Senator Buhari took the loan from a first-generation bank and refused to offset it despite repeated reminders.
In statement, Okosun said it was an attempt to blackmail his boss as what really happened was a tripartite agreement between Abadat, Guaranty Trust Bank and Peugeot entered into in 2007.
According to him, “I am privy to this case from the beginning. Abadat, Peugeot and GTB entered into a tripartite agreement whereby Abadat as a dealer with Peugeot would collect a vehicle on credit and GTB would guarantee the credit for one month at 18 per cent. Abadat did not take a loan from GTB as widely reported.
“And when we discovered that GTB was clandestinely charging us 30 per cent, we requested for our statements which they refused to give to us in 2009. When we eventually got the statements through AMCON ‘s intervention, we discovered a lot of foul play through the forensic audit that was carried out. GTB is the one owing Abadat according to the audit report. And we went to court and the case is still in court with AMCON and GTB sending their lawyers anytime there is a court sitting. What AMCON did was blackmail against the senator,” he explained.
Also speaking, lawyer to the Ogbomoso-born politician, Ahmed Raji, SAN, said his client’s assets have not been taken over by AMCON.
“It is not correct that AMCON has taken over Senator Buhari’s assets in Abuja. There is a subsisting suit on the matter since 2013 and no judgement has been rendered. Self-help is not allowed just as suppression of facts is deprecated in our judicial system. The court will very shortly reaffirm its sacred authority over all persons and authorities. We are all under the law,” he explained.
