Supreme Court Affirms AMCON’s Sale Of Lagos Continental Hotel For N22bn

The Supreme Court has upheld the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)’s sale of the Lagos Continental Hotel to a consortium for N22 billion, ending the protracted legal battles between Polaris Bank Limited, AMCON, 11 Hospitality Plc, and Milan Industries Limited over the sale.

In a judgment delivered on Friday, a five-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun dismissed appeals from the hotel’s former owners, citing procedural compliance and public interest in recovering bad debts, AMCON stated on Sunday.

AMCON, established to clean up non-performing loans in the banking sector, seized the five-star property in 2019 as part of efforts to recover over N40 billion in outstanding debts linked to its previous operators.

The bad debt agency recalled that the defunct Skye Bank Plc (now Polaris Bank Plc) advanced a credit facility to Milan Industries Limited for the construction of the Lagos Continental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. The loan became non-performing, and AMCON acquired the Eligible Bank Asset (EBA) of Milan Industries Limited from Polaris Bank in September 2018.

According to AMCON, prior to the purchase of the loan, the Bank had appointed Kunle Ogunba as receiver/manager over Milan Industries to recover the non-performing loan. As receiver/manager, Kunle Ogunba took over the Lagos Continental Hotel pursuant to the registered Deed of Legal Mortgage collateralising the Hotel to the Bank and his Deed of Appointment.

Upon acquiring the EBA, AMCON validated the appointment of Kunle Ogunba, SAN, as receiver/manager.

Subsequently, AMCON disposed of the Lagos Continental Hotel for the sum of N22 billion to 11 Hospitality Plc pursuant to the registered Deed of Legal Mortgage collateralising the Hotel to the Bank/AMCON.

Following the disposal of the collateral, Milan Industries Limited commenced Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1643/2020- Milan Industries Limited vs Polaris Bank Limited, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and 11 Plc, wherein the obligor challenged the disposal of the collateral by AMCON. The Federal High Court had dismissed the obligor’s suit at the time.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, Milan Industries commenced an appeal at the Court of Appeal vide CA/L/CV/476/2021: Milan Industries Limited vs Polaris Bank Ltd, AMCON & 11 Hospitality Plc. The matter over the years went through the Court of Appeal, which ruled in favour of Milan Industries Limited. As expected, the Court of Appeal’s judgment was appealed to the Supreme Court, which finally ruled on the matter on February 20, 2026, in favour of AMCON.

In setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court stated that the AMCON Act is a special law enacted by the National Assembly to tackle peculiar problems in the financial industry, and interpretation should be done in accordance with the special nature of the law.

Hence, the Supreme Court affirmed salient provisions of the Act; upheld the provisions of Section 60 of the AMCON, which exempt AMCON from paying stamp duty; and validated AMCON’s rights as a mortgagee irrespective of the upstamping of the document. The Supreme Court held that, provided there was an outstanding debt, AMCON had a continuing security interest in the mortgaged assets. The Supreme Court upheld the sale of the Lagos Intercontinental Hotel, thereby ensuring that AMCON’s powers to dispose of mortgaged assets are protected.

It would be recalled that AMCON acquired the Lagos Continental Hotel (‘’Asset or Hotel”) as collateral for an eligible bank asset purchased from Skye Bank Plc (now Polaris Bank Limited) following the failure of Milan Industries Limited to repay its outstanding debt to the bank. With this development, the matter has been permanently laid to rest.