TheCable

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) says it is willing to handover ownership of Arik Air and Aero Contractor airlines if the owners are willing to pay the debts owed by the companies.

Speaking during the weekend at the sixth Nigeria Transport Awards and Lecture, Ahmed Kuru, AMCON chairman, said the corporation did not wish to operate in the airline business.

Kuru delivered a  paper titled ‘AMCON’s Intervention in Transport and Allied Sector; Achievements, Challenges and Prospects’ at the event.

“AMCON does not wish to be in the airline business or indeed any business apart from its legal mandate. So, AMCON will be willing to exit the firms if the owners of the companies pay the debts owed,” Kuru, who was represented by Kamilu Omokide, AMCON’s senior vice president, said.

“Where this does not happen, the corporation will seek to strengthen the intervened companies and undertake a responsible exit in a manner that reinforces the sector.”

The corporation had taken over Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s oldest carrier which is owned by the Ibru family, in 2016.

It had also taken over Arik Air, owned by Joseph Arumemi Ikhide, in 2017.

He said AMCON’s intervention through receiver management was first to stabilize the operations of the airlines, put them in a position to generate positive cash flow, then resolve their debt situation through either the owners paying the debts or the sale of the companies/underlining assets.

The AMCON boss said the corporation adopted the same approach with Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN), which has now resumed assembling cars in Nigeria.