Arik Air founder’s companies owe N455bn, AMCON vows full recovery
BY TEMITOPE ADEBAYO
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has disclosed that companies owned by Sir Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, the founder of Arik Air, are indebted to the corporation to the tune of N455.17 billion.
Speaking on this development over the weekend, AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communications, Jude Nwauzor, explained that Arik Air owes N227.64 billion as of December 31, 2024. For instance, Rockson Engineering owes N163.50 billion, while Ojemai Farms owes N14.03 billion, bringing the total debts owed by Arumemi-Ikhide’s companies to N455.17 billion.
Nwauzor stated that AMCON’s intervention in the troubled Arik Air in February 2017 saved the airline from liquidation, preserving over 1,500 jobs. He emphasised that AMCON would ensure the recovery of all debts owed to it by the companies, regardless of what he described as orchestrated blackmail.
Nwauzor added that Arumemi-Ikhide had previously agreed to the debts owed to AMCON and signed restructured repayment agreements, which he later failed to honour.
According to him, at the time of our intervention, there were not as many airlines as we have today, such as Air Peace, United Nigeria, Green Africa, Max Air, and Value Jet.
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“The Federal Government mandated AMCON to save the jobs that would have been lost if the airline had been liquidated, and this led to the appointment of a receiver manager to oversee the airline,” he said.
AMCON, owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Finance, operates under the AMCON Act, which was drafted by the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.
Nwauzor noted that the corporation’s actions are guided by this legal framework, giving it the authority to take possession, manage, or sell properties traced to debtors.
The corporation clarified that its takeover of Arik Air did not occur by fiat, as alleged by some critics, but was instead a result of due legal processes. The banks, including Union Bank, Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank), Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Standard Chartered, and Afreximbank, sold Arik Air’s non-performing loans to AMCON.
Nwauzor explained that AMCON had been involved with Arik Air since 2011 and only took over the airline in 2017 after numerous failed interventions. Independent reports from KPMG and PwC in 2015 and 2016 had declared Arik Air insolvent, recommending liquidation, which would not have recovered a fraction of the debts.
Contrary to claims that Arik Air had 30 operational aircraft at the time of the takeover, AMCON revealed that most of the planes were abandoned, scrapped, or inactive, with only eight in working condition. Furthermore, Nwauzor stated that the airline had no funds to sustain operations when AMCON intervened.
AMCON insisted that despite the challenges and ongoing campaigns against it, the corporation would ensure the recovery of all debts owed. It continues to fund Arik Air to sustain its operations while exploring options for debt recovery, including managing or selling off the company’s assets.
