Bank Drags Oil Firm To Court Over N26bn Debt
Ecobank Nigeria Limited has dragged the Managing Director of Rahamaniyya, an oil and gas company, Alhaji Abdukrahaman Musa Basiru and the oil company to court over their inability to pay an alleged N26 billion debt.
Ecobank in debt recovery action it filed before Federal High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja through its counsel, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) claimed that it gave the facility to Rahamaniyya, an oil and gas company for the purpose of financing the importation and local purchase of petroleum products.
Apart from the suit before the Abuja courts, the bank had also deployed other wide range of legal actions to recover the indebted sum.
Already, Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court in Lagos had on August 7, 2019 granted an order of interim injunction restraining Rahamaniyya and its directors from interfering or tampering with the petroleum products in their Tank Farms, which were financed by Ecobank.
Another judge, Justice Ayotunde Faji also granted an order for the issuance of a bankruptcy notice against the Managing Director of Rahamaniyya, Alhaji Abdulrahaman Musa Bashir, on June 27, 2019.
The action against Alhaji Bashir in his personal capacity is said to be based on his personal guarantee to repay the loans which he had failed to meet following his company’s huge indebtedness to the bank.
These recovery actions came on the heels of the bank’s resolve to ensure that debtors fully honour their obligations after benefitting from credit facilities which helped to grow their businesses.
The bank by the actions filed, seeks to enforce collateral agreements, wind up the company for inability to pay its debts and obtain an order of court, adjudging Alhaji Abdulrahman Musa Bashir bankrupt.
The Ecobank Group has representations across 36 countries in Africa and it constantly supports businesses in all these countries.
The Bank holds customers’ deposits in safe trust hence its vigour to recover the debt portfolio from Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas, against the backdrop of its insistence for customers it helps, to pay their debts in full and honour their obligations when due.
