The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) have submitted a list of its top 1,000 debtors owing banks and others in the country to the National Assembly. The list was giving in a spirit to recover all debts owned banks and other institutions that the agency has taken over.
The names were submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency at the just concluded retreat of the committee in Lagos. This came moments after President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amendment) Act. The AMCON Act provides for the extension of the tenor of the resolution cost fund and grants access to the Special Tribunal established by the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 2020, which confers on AMCON the power to, among others, “take possession, manage, foreclose or sell, transfer, assign or otherwise deal with the asset or property used as security for Eligible Bank Assets, and related matters.”
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr Victor Nwokolo, who received the list from the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Mr Ahmed Kuru, was quoted as saying that the committee called for the list so that the National Assembly would know “those holding the country to ransom.” He said this would enable the lawmakers to meet with relevant agencies of the Federal Government on how to further deal with the debtors to ensure the realisation of AMCON’s mandate in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy. Nwokolo, who commended the commitment of the Kuru-led agency, said the corporation had been operating under a very difficult condition since its establishment, adding that this had been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the harsh economic realities caused by COVID-19 meant that “the recovery assignment AMCON is doing for the country has been further compounded, which is why the National Assembly is looking at ways of further supporting the recovery drive.
