News
Debt: AMCON, moves to tighten noose on debtors *Gives fresh charge to AMPS
As part of the renewed strategy of the executive management of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) currently led by Gbenga Alade as MD/CEO, the Corporation at the weekend during an interactive session in Abuja, said it plans to deepen its collaboration with all stakeholders especially the Asset Management Partners (AMPs) scheme, which was established in 2016.
Jude Nwuzo, spokesman of the Corporation, which captured the meeting quoted Adeshola Lamidi, Executive Director in charge of Resolution, whose directorate in AMCON manages the AMPs scheme, in his charge, as saying the new dawn in AMCON which includes proactive and practical applications to debt recovery, the Corporation has decided to take its relationship with the appointed AMPs to the next level, which he also assured would be mutually beneficial to both the AMPs and AMCON.
Welcoming the AMPs to its inaugural interactive session since the assumption of the current executive management of AMCON, he reassured them of the decision of the AMCON management to continue the partnership programme, saying: “Sessions such as this, will provide a timely and strategic opportunity for us to reflect on our journey so far, re-evaluate our recovery strategies and pave the way forward for better effectiveness, and efficiency in conducting this national assignment.
“AMCON’s mandate was at creation summarised in two folds: To stabilise the financial system (which we have done through the acquisition of non-performing loans and providing funds to the banks to avoid a systemic failure in the nation’s financial system, and the recovery of these loans.
“Whilst AMCON has performed very well over the years, there is still room for improvement. Our success depends greatly on you, our Asset Management Partners (AMPs), through your dedication, innovation and professionalism. In achieving greater success, we must deepen collaboration, uphold ethical standards, and embrace strategic thinking in our recovery efforts. This session is therefore designed not only to strengthen engagement with our partners but also to jointly explore practical solutions, share feedback, and forge better ways forward.”
Alade, who declared the event open, underscored the importance of the AMP scheme when he urged the AMPs to take the AMCON debt recovery assignment seriously.
His words: “You must not underrate your importance to the Corporation. You are indeed very critical to our success, as our workforce of less than 500 personnel with offices in Lagos and Abuja may not effectively cope with the over 12,000.00 portfolios in our inventory. Accordingly, the imperative of deepening our mutual synergy is readily apparent.
“With an inevitable Sunset date and recalcitrant debtors, a high premium is placed on debt recovery efforts to ensure that the Corporation achieves its statutory mandate. In other words, with a looming Sunset date, it is necessary that you are more aggressive in your debt recovery drive. We are not oblivious to the herculean challenges confronting you in your debt recovery strides. Certainly, debt recovery has never been easy. However, most of you have surmounted these hurdles with excellent performance to your credit.
“Your consistent feedback from previous sessions and at other fora formed the fulcrum of the Federal High Court (Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria) Proceedings Rules, 2024, and the establishment of the Insolvency Unit of the Federal High Court on Monday, March 24, 2025. In the Notice establishing the Insolvency Unit at the Federal High Court, My Lord the Hon. Chief Judge of the Federal High Court explained that it was created pursuant to the ‘relevant insolvency provisions of the AMCON Act, 2010 (as amended)’ and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.’
“Amongst others, the functions of the Unit include the effective implementation of the provisions of the insolvency laws relating to Company Voluntary Arrangements, Administration, Receivership, Winding-Up and various forms of re-structuring. Notably, this Unit was established in accordance with global best practices on insolvency. It will also offer specialized and standardized services on insolvency. Furthermore, the Unit will serve as a dedicated channel for supervisory and enforcement infrastructure on insolvency issues. For AMCON, this Unit will offer the Fast Track services inherent to the realization of the Corporation’s mandate and the procedure enacted by the Federal High Court AMCON Rules, 2024.
“In addition to the Unit in the Abuja Division, the Corporation is collaborating with the office of the Hon. Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to have this Unit established in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano, and Kaduna divisions of the Federal High Court. This will enhance your performance and also ease your challenges while delivering your tasks to the Corporation. The FHC AMCON Rules, 2024 have robustly prescribed the procedure for realizing the extraordinary powers of the Corporation as enshrined in its establishment Act 2010 and subsequent amendments. Our resource person will take you through the nitty-gritty of the Proceeding Rules.
“Similarly, the Hon. President of the Court of Appeal, also in the exercise of the powers as the Hon. President of the Court of Appeal approved the Court of Appeal (Fast Track) Practice Directions, 2021 to expedite disposal of matters relating to AMCON debt recovery and indeed other institutions that relate with insolvency. The Fast Track Practice Directions has accommodated the expedient provisions of the AMCON Act, 2010 (as amended) by prescribing that the Court of Appeal can exercise any power conferred by any law and impose conditions, including a condition to pay a judgment debt or other sum of money into Court’s Registry or specify the consequence (s) of failure to comply with the order or the condition. Similar provisions are also captured by the Supreme Court Rules, 2024.”
It would be recalled that when the AMPs scheme was set up in 2016, the strategy was for AMCON to leverage the expertise of the firms to resolve debts that are categorised into two: debts of N100 million and below, and debts of N100 million and above. The Corporation also, through that platform, intends to nurture its transformation into the preferred model for recovery and resolution of non-performing loans in the banking sector and financial services industry. A new sub-sector should emerge with desirable job creation and multiplier impact.
Therefore, the AMPs would, among other things, work with AMCON in tracing, identifying, and locating obligors with the intent to resolve their outstanding indebtedness. They would also be involved in the identification and location of assets of obligors (both pledged and unpledged) to enhance the Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs) value and achieve set recovery objectives, negotiation of settlement and restructuring terms with identified obligors in line with approved guidelines. The AMPs will be vested with the wide powers granted to AMCON by its enabling Act. It would be recalled that almost nine years ago, AMCON called for applications from reputable and qualified entities with the requisite experience to collaborate with it as AMPs to resolve these debts.
Recall that AMCON was established in 2010 as a resolution vehicle to purchase the non-performing loans from banks, inject liquidity into the banks, and subsequently recover the purchased bad loans. Since its establishment, AMCON has successfully stabilised the Nigerian banking sector by restructuring and collecting some of these loans. However, the Corporation is seeking to recover a humongous outstanding debt of over N4.6trillion in the hands of its obligors.
Themed, AMCON Debt Recovery in Renewed Hope Paradigm, the AMCON interaction with the AMPs featured many presentations including, “AMCON Special Powers and the Dissection of the Federal High Court (Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria) Proceeding Rules, 2024, etc; The Role of the EFCC in AMCON debt recovery; Asset Tracing and Documentation; Conventional and Unconventional Asset Tracing as well as AMP case Management and AMP Regime, amongst others.
Hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered issued a bench warrant for the arrest Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), is currently in the custody police authorities.
Pictures and videos of embattled PFIPC boss being questioned in what appeared an interrogation session, surfaced on social media on Tuesday evening, with few details still sketchy on whether the police actually hunted him down or he surrendered himself.
Latest information, indicate that he is currently in the custody of the Osun State Police Command, according to a report by Channels Television, who confirmed that he has been taken in.
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director-General (DG) of an alleged “non-existent,” Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Abdulrahman Bello, must die for the murder, Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, the Court of Appeal has insisted, rebuffing the attempt of the self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, to upturn the verdict of an Ilorin High Court.
Affirming the earlier death sentence imposed on cleric for the murder of the female student, said to be his lover, on February 10, 2025, at the Olunlade area of Ilorin, which attracted widespread public outrage across Kwara State and beyond, the appellate court said it found no reason to upturn the earlier verdict of the lower court.
Bello, who was one of the five people arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy, murder, unlawful removal and possession of human parts and blood, also faced a rape charge, of which he was eventually acquitted by the trial court.
Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, who led a three-man panel of the appellate court, while dismissing his appeal, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered the victim and was unlawfully in possession of human parts.
The appellate court consequently upheld the judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced Bello to death by hanging and imposed an additional 10-year jail term over his conviction for unlawful possession of human parts.
The court held that there was no merit in the appeal and consequently affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.
According to the appellate court, the trial court properly evaluated the evidence before it and rightly concluded that the prosecution established the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
The appellate court said it believed the position of Ibrahim Sulyman, Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Issa Zakari, Chief State Counsel, and B.L. Abdulsalam, Assistant Chief State Counsel, who led the prosecution.
Hailing the judgment as another significant milestone in the state’s criminal justice administration, Sulyman, said in a statement: “The judgment underscores the commitment of the Kwara State Ministry of Justice and the judiciary to ensuring that criminal cases are determined strictly in accordance with the law and the evidence presented before the courts.
“It also reaffirms the principle that persons found guilty of grave offences, after a fair trial, will be held accountable under the law. The appellate court’s decision would strengthen public confidence in the justice system.
“The affirmation of the conviction and sentence represents another milestone in the administration of criminal justice and reinforces public confidence in the rule of law and the appellate process. The convict still retains any further rights of appeal available to him under the Constitution and other applicable laws.
Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court, sitting at Ilorin, hand on July 2025 sentenced Bello to death after finding him guilty of murdering and dismembering Lawal, after describing his act as “the highest degree of human wickedness, and a premeditated and cold-blooded act.”
Dismissing Bello’s claims that he loved the deceased and intended to marry her as merely an afterthought designed to deceive the court, Ajayi, also ruled the convict’s conduct after committing the crime and before his arrest suggested that it might not have been his first involvement in such an act, while a book on money-making charms recovered from his apartment further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Justice Ajayi further held that the video and written confessional statements obtained by operatives of the Department of State Services and the police were lawfully admitted in evidence, dismissing Bello’s allegation that he was tortured into making the confessions.
While acquitting Bello of the rape charge, the trial court convicted him of murder and unlawful possession of human parts, sentencing him to death by hanging for the murder and imposing a 10-year prison term, with an option of a N100,000 fine, for the human parts offence.
The court also discharged and acquitted the four other defendants in the case — Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahman Jamiu — after holding that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the offences.
Reacting to the High Court judgment at the time, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, described the killing as tragic and commended the judiciary for ensuring justice.
“The gruesome murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal was pathetic, unfortunate, regrettable and worrisome,” the monarch said in a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Abdulazeez Arowona.
“The judgment has further brightened the hope and trust of the people in the judiciary and security agencies. May Almighty Allah repose the soul of the late Hafsoh Lawal and comfort her family members.”
The monarch also urged parents and guardians to be vigilant and closely monitor the activities and movements of their children and wards to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
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