Former Minister of State for Defence; one-time Supervising Minister for Mines and Steel Development and current Nigerian Ambassador designate to Spain, Ademola Seriki, has settled his debt with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the asset management agency confirmed on Tuesday.
The agency’s spokesperson, Jude Nwauzor, said after series of negotiations and eventual agreement on a schedule to restructure the repayment of the huge debt, the minister was able to settle his obligation with the Corporation.
Mr Nwauzor said Mr Seriki enter into a series of negotiations with the Corporation over the debt, Although the AMCON spokesperson did not disclosed how much the former minister’s indebtedness was, but a source close to the agency said it ran into several millions.
The source requested that his name should not be disclosed as he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
Mr Nwauzor said at the end of series of negotiations, both the former minister and AMCON eventually reached a negotiated settlement terms, which he kept till the debt was cleared.
He said an official letter of non-indebtedness was issued to Mr Seriki after the debt recovery department of the corporation certified him free of any further indebtedness.
“So, having met all conditions as agreed in the terms of settlement, he (Seriki) is no longer indebted to AMCON,” Mr Nwauzor said.
On the negotiated settlement deal with the former minister, Mr Nwauzor said this was a gesture to show that although AMCON may be in court with a good number of its obligors to recover the various debts, the Corporation was still ready to listen to debtors who genuinely wants to take advantage of this window to settle their debt without resorting a lengthy and unnecessary judicial process.
It is not clear if Mr Seriki’s decision to embrace the negotiated settlement deal had anything to so with his recent appointment as the Nigerian Ambassador Designate to Spain.
