Independent finding by the News Carrier NG revealed that Senator Abdulfatai Buhari of Oyo North Senatorial District is not owing N600m as been falsely claimed by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and erroneously reported by some national dailies.
The News Carrier NG’s fact-checked on the institution’s website shows that neither Dr. Abdulfatai Buhari nor his company, Abadat Ventures Limited is on the long list of debtors.
The agency accused Senator Buhari of unwillingness to defray a N600 million loan. The corporation said it took the action after securing a court order to sell the assets to recover the loan.
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However, aside the fact-finding by the News Carrier NG, Senator Buhari’s lawyer and the Managinf Director of the Abadat Ventures Limited, Henry Okosun, have debunked the news, saying AMCON was wrong, neither Buhari nor his company sought any loan.
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 still sending their lawyers anytime there is a court sitting. What AMCON did was a 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.
