Ayodeji Ake
Suru Group Boss, Edward Akinlade, has applauded the Supreme Court of Nigeria for its decisive judgement in the lawsuit between his company, Suru Worldwide and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over seizure of some of his company’s properties by AMCON.
While addressing the press recently Akinlade said the landmark judgment which was delivered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the 16th of February, 2024 was a pleasurable news to him.
He said the Supreme Court ruled that AMCON’s possession of Suru World Wide’s properties, which was premised on a Federal High Court order was illegal as the apex court of law has struck down the said court order.
Akinlade exclaimed that the Supreme Court judgement was remarkable and attests to the fact that it is the last hope of the common man in the country.
He said: “We took a loan from Oceanic Bank in those days for about N13.5 billion and part of it was invested in Best Western Hotel. Part of it was used to buy a lot of land in Ikeja, GRA.
And we were paying the loan.
“Towards the tail end of the former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi arrival, John Aboh, who was appointed as the MD of Oceanic Bank was just selling our properties behind our back. We were here, how can somebody tell us they have bought our lands? Oceanic Bank was doing that. And then they wrote us a letter that they are not giving us any more money that we have spent part of the loan. All the credits in our bank accounts were taken.
“One day, we were just told that whatever that was left in our loan was sold to AMCON for N8.5billion. So, that is the contention. When AMCON came in, they went to the Federal High Court that the court should agree that they had bought the loan properly. But the case was dismissed because AMCON should not be buying performing loans. This was a judgement AMCON was told Suru is not owing them any money. Then they now started seeking what I call ‘Jankara Judgement’ from other courts.
Speaking on his take from the Supreme Court ruling on AMCON’s possession of Suru WorldWide’s properties, Akinlade said that the apex court has shown courage and firmness in its judgement which means there won’t be room for Illegality as AMCON has no choice other than to obey the court order and the rule of law.
Meanwhile, he advised President Bola Tinubu to probe the operations of AMCON since its inception, especially how it was run under its deposed and immediate past MD, Ahmed Kuru.
