Bawa Usman Kaltungo, a former head of the Lagos desk of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), has told the Ikeja Special Offences Court that ex-AMCON managing director Ahmed Kuru unilaterally approved the receivership of Arik Air without the board’s consent in an alleged N118 billion fraud case.
Mr Kuru and his co-defendants, Kamilu Omokide, Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and Super Bravo Limited, are currently on trial after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission charged them with six counts bordering on conspiracy, stealing and abuse of office.
The case is connected to N76 billion and $31.5 million fraud allegations centred on how Arik Air was placed under receivership, whether the debt used to justify the takeover was legitimate, and whether funds and assets belonging to the airline were improperly handled afterward.
In a statement on Tuesday, the EFCC said Mr Kaltungo, who is the EFCC’s witness in the case, testified in court during a hearing on Monday that Mr Kuru “exercised extensive power within the corporation and approved the receivership arrangement without first obtaining the board’s approval”.
He noted that during an internal investigation, officials requested documents linking the appointment of the receiver-manager to a prior decision by AMCON’s board. However, Mr Kuru allegedly failed to provide the documents, prompting Femi Falana, counsel to Arik Air’s directors and shareholders, to petition the EFCC over the matter in April 2023.
The anti-graft agency further stated that Mr Kaltungo told the court that he and other investigators interviewed individuals connected to the receivership appointment following an EFCC directive in May 2023, with the individuals citing the airline’s outstanding bad loan as the reason for the appointment.
The witness, however, said in court that the investigation found the claim underlying the receivership arrangement to be false.
“The evidence gathered by the commission did not establish that the Nigerian government had paid money to acquire Arik Air or its debt. A receiver-manager is expected to take control of a company placed under receivership and protect and preserve its assets,” Mr Kaltungo said in the statement.
Meanwhile, he reportedly explained that although AMCON had the power to appoint a receiver for an indebted company, it had to exercise that power in accordance with due process.