Alleged N924.7m Debt: Lagos Court Fines Kanu Nwankwo, Hotel

Kanu Nwankwo, the former captain of the Super Eagles, and his hotel, Hardley Apartment, have been fined N30,000 by a Nigerian court.

Kanu and his hotel, Hardley Apartment, were ordered to pay the fee by the Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke-led Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday.

They were punished for delaying the hearing of a debt collection complaint filed against them by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, or AMCON.

Recall that AMCON had taken Ayoola Gam-Ikon, the former Arsenal star, his hotel, and its directors to court over an alleged debt of N924.7 million.

T. A. Idelegbagbon, Kanu and Hardley Apartment’s lawyer, told the court on Friday that she is abandoning all motions made in response to the litigation in 2017.

However, AMCON’s lawyer, Jayes Ujah, opposed to the request and requested that the respondents be fined for submitting frivolous petitions.

He stated that he had already filed his response to the withdrawn processes.

Ujah further sought that the court dismiss all new processes brought by Kanu and the Hardley Apartment team because they contained previously admitted facts.

After hearing both parties’ arguments, the judge granted the respondents’ request to withdraw the petitions and imposed a fine of N30,000 on them for delaying further proceedings in the case.

Kanu and Hardley Apartment shall pay the money before the matter resumes for hearing on January 20, 2022, according to Justice Aneke.

In 2015, AMCON sued Hardley Apartment, its directors, Gam-Ikon, and Kanu in order to recover an alleged debt owing to a bank.

AMCON alleged in an affidavit in support of the suit sworn to by a Credit Officer, Victor Igabor, that the bank offered Hardley Apartments a loan of N520,457,000 between May 2008 and January 2011.