BI-COURTNEY FLOORS AMCON IN COURT

A Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out an order obtained ‎by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to take over the assets of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, managers of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 because of debts to creditors.
Bi-Courtney had asked the court to strike out the order, alleging that it was obtained fraudulently.
The order was obtained by AMCON counsel, Olisa Agbakoba.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Muhammed Buba struck out the ‎order on the ground that it was an abuse of  court processes. He declared it null and void.
Reacting to the judgment at a press conference in Lagos, ‎Bi-Courtney described it as victory to the rule of law.
The company said the ruling had strengthened its confidence in the rule of law.
“We are happy to report that consistent with our position all along, the court today decided that Mr. Olisa Agbakoba is not a receiver of MMA2 nor Bi-Courtney or any other company related to Bi-Courtney,” the company said in a statement read by its Chief Operations Officer, Adebisi Awoniyi.
“The court categorically confirmed that the order obtained by Mr. Olisa Agbakoba on behalf of AMCON constitutes a gross abuse of the process of court and was designed to ridicule the legal system,” she said.
The company said it is not indebted to AMCON or any other person.
“On the contrary it is AMCON and the Federal Government of Nigeria that owe Bi-Courtney N132 billion which has remained unpaid till date,” the company said.
Bi-Courtney said it will continue to provide “exceptional services to Nigerians as demonstrated by its airport terminal‎ which has been acclaimed by the best run in the country”.
As how much does Bi-Courtney owe the banks or other ‎creditors, Bi- Courtney Lawyer said “nothing”.
Bi-Courtney had collected loans from banks ‎to build the modern MMA2 and five star hotel at the airport but could not pay back as agreed in various agreements.
The bad loans were then transfered to AMCON as a way of bailing out the banks following the financial meltdown of 2008 – 2009.
Bi-Courtney was meant to pay back AMCON but began losing revenues following the Federal government’s failure to abide by the terms of the concession agreement.
In the agreement, all Nigerian airlines were meant to operate from MMA2, but Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest airline kicked against it and continued to operate from the old domestic terminal in Lagos.
Bi-Courtney Approached the courts to compel Arik to relocate to MMA2 ‎but despite several victories, Arik has refused to relocate and the Federal Government has been unable to intervene.
It is because of such failures that Bi-Courtney lawyer, Oshobi and the company’s Chief Executive officer, Christophe Penninck have continued to claim ‎that Bi-Courtney is not indebted to the government.
Bi-Courtney is owned by Barrister Wale Babalakin.





Via PM News