By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The Arewa Youth Assembly has come to the defence of Mallam Ahmed Kuru, the former Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), in response to allegations linking him to the sale of Delta Steel Company (DSC).

The assembly dismissed these claims as baseless, unfounded, and politically motivated.

In a statement signed by Mohammed Salihu Danlami, Speaker of the Arewa Youth Assembly, it was clarified that the sale of DSC took place under the Federal Government’s privatisation policy, with 80 per cent sold to Global Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd (GINL) on 8 February 2005.

The statement further explained that AMCON acquired the plant through a Loan Purchase Agreement due to DSC’s debts and subsequently sold the assets to Premium Steel Limited in 2015, well after Kuru’s tenure had begun.

The assembly stressed that Kuru’s involvement in the transaction is nonsensical, given that he assumed leadership of AMCON two decades after the initial sale. They also noted that Ayodeji Gbeleyi, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), did not associate Kuru with the transaction in question.

The Arewa Youth Assembly urged the public to dismiss the false accusations against Kuru.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Arewa Youth Assembly has been drawn to a publication alleging that the former Managing Director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, was involved in the sale of Delta Steel Company (DSC).

“This publication has been misinterpreted and is rife with baseless allegations, deliberately politicised to mislead the public and obscure the truth.

“It is therefore absurd to claim that a man who took over the reins of the agency two decades after the initial privatisation has any connection to it.

“Furthermore, the Director-General of BPE, Mr Ayodeji Gbeleyi, never mentioned Ahmed Kuru, as he was not in office when the transaction occurred.

“We call on the public to disregard these false accusations against Ahmed Kuru, as they are untrue and merely aimed at damaging his hard-earned reputation.”