by Isi Esene

There are conflicting signals coming from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) regarding the takeover of Aero Contractors Airline.

Mustafa Chike-Obi, the AMCON managing director denied reports of a takeover saying “it is not true”.

He said, “Reports that AMCON has taken over Aero Contractors is not true. We took over the debts, not the company. We have had the debts for almost a year now. Therefore, what AMCON has done does not have any impact on Aero Contractors’ normal business.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced on Friday that all loans from banks to Aero Contractors Airline should be halted because of its $200m loan.

The AMCON boss, Chike-Obi however did not reveal the terms and conditions of the said takeover.

AMCON, which was established through the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act, 2010 (AMCON Act), is mandated to efficiently resolve all problems associated with non-performing loans in Nigerian banks, financial institutions and corporations.

Aero Contractor’s Chief Financial Officer, Omoke Enyi, confirmed the debt takeover by the Assets Management Company saying, “We can confirm that Aero’s debt has been taken over by AMCON. Currently Aero is going through a restructuring exercise under AMCON, pending final approval by AMCON board which is expected very soon.”

So we take it that Aero will continue to fly their normal routes as usual.