The Chief Executive Officer of AMG Petro-Energy Ltd, Abba Mohammed, has dismissed reports that he was facing insolvency, following two separate court orders seeking to declare his company bankrupt.
Mr. Mohammed said a report published by an online medium, saying that Guaranty Trust Bank Plc had filed a suit seeking an order to declare his company bankrupt for failure to repay N1.36 billion, was capable of damaging his corporate image.
In the said suit, the bank claimed the money was an outstanding balance of a loan facility granted for the importation of petroleum products from international and local sources for onward supply to some off-takers, including Total Nigeria Plc and Exxon Mobil.
But Mr. Mohammed, the son of late former Nigerian head of state, Murtala Mohammed, expressed surprise at the publication insisting that there was no fresh court sitting on the case.
He said his company was still solvent and the money the bank claimed his company was owing was used for the supply of petroleum products to Total Nigeria Plc.
According to the company, the facility granted to it by the bank was used for the purchase of petrol, which was supplied to Total Nigeria Plc.
“It was a term of the offer of facility letter, from GT Bank, that the facility shall be repaid from the proceeds of the transactions for which the funds were to be utilized vide the domiciliation of sales proceeds,” the company explained.
The company lamented that its predicament with the bank was a fallout of Total Nigeria’s failure to remit, to the company, the additional income it realized from sales of the PMS imported under the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) Scheme, at prices above the regulated “ex-depot” price.
The Beginning of the Crisis
The deal between the AMG Petro-energy Ltd and Total faced a hitch after federal government announced its decision to partially withdrawal fuel subsidies in 2012.
“On 1st January, 2012, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced changes in its policy of subsidizing the importation of PMS under the PSF Scheme pursuant to which the subject PMS was imported and sold to Total.
“Between 1st January,2012 and 16th January, 2012, the Federal Government totally withdrew its erstwhile subsidization of the importation of PMS and from 17th January, 2012, the Federal Government re-introduced the said subsidization (the PSF Scheme) but to a reduced extent,” AMG said.
Mr. Mohammed, therefore, dragged the oil giant to court, seeking recovery of the “additional” income it made at the expense of his company.
“Notwithstanding the suit, we still appeal to the PPPRA, as industry regulator, to come to our aid in addressing the issue with Total and ensure that justice is made to our company and, ultimately, Guaranty Trust Bank is reimbursed by Total,” he said.
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