Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke has reached an agreement with AMCON over an alleged debt of N537,334,360.77.
Following the settlement, Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos discharged its Thursday, August 8, 2019 order, which empowered AMCON to take over an Ikoyi property that belongs to Duke.
Duke and AMCON had on Monday, September 2, 2019, told Justice Oweibo that they were exploring an out-of-court settlement, and pleaded for an adjournment to enable them to conclude their settlement talks.
[READ MORE: ₦5trn AMCON Debt: FG plans to go after debtors]
Eventually, on Wednesday, September 11, the parties returned to court, and AMCON’s lawyer, Juliet Benson, told the judge that Duke had met the terms of settlement agreed upon.
Confirming the settlement talks, Duke’s lawyer, Edoigiawerie Uyi, said his client had shown good faith by paying over N350 million. The two lawyers, however, urged the judge to adopt the terms of settlements agreed upon by their clients as the judgment of the court in the case.
In his ruling, Justice Oweibo granted the lawyers’ prayers and discharged the order made earlier.
The Backstory: Early this year, AMCON had listed Babalakin, Ifeanyi Uba, Buruji Kashamu and a host of others as debtors in a Nairametrics report.
Empowered by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, a special task force comprising the heads of AMCON, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Justice and Transportation, was set up to recover the fund. Tinapa Business Resort was named as one of those debts under Duke’s Governorship tenure.
[READ ALSO: AMCON boss wants courts to have debt recovery powers]
AMCON and the United Bank for Africa had on August 8, 2019, moved to claim properties owned by Duke following the Federal High court injunction.