The Supreme Court has upheld the 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 seized the five-star property in 2019 as collateral for an eligible bank asset purchased from Skye Bank Plc (now Polaris Bank Limited). This followed the failure of Milan Industries Limited -owned by Indian businessman Ramesh Valechha, to repay its outstanding debt of over N40 billion to the bank.
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.
Prior to the purchase of the loan, Polaris Bank had appointed Kunle Ogunba as receiver/manager over Milan Industries to recover the non-performing loan. The receiver/manager, 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. Following the disposal of the collateral, Milan Industries Limited commenced headed to court to challenge AMCON. The case at the Federal High Court was however dismissed.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, Milan Industries headed for the Court of Appeal. After three years of legal battle, the appellate court Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Milan Industries Limited. 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.
