Victor EzejaASSET Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has submitted a list containing top 1,000 debtors to the House of Representatives, seeking intervention of the National Assembly in its debt recovery drive.
AMCON made the submission to members of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency at a retreat organised by the committee in Lagos.
The corporation had recently reported that its debt stocks have risen to an all-time high of N5trillion due to chronic and recalcitrant debtors who have refused to pay back.
Presenting the list of obligors, the Chairman of AMCON, Ahmed Lawan Kuru, said the agency is seeking the support of the National Assembly in its mandate of debt recovery.
Kuru said the judiciary has been of tremendous support, to the corporation as its recovery exercise currently, is heavily dependent on the Judiciary in the country, disclosing that AMCON has over 4,000 cases in court and is presently being challenged with so many issues including unperfected title documents of some properties from Eligible Financial Institutions (EFIs), which often prevent or elongate the completion of the sale of some of the assets; A general market perception that AMCON assets are distressed, hence buyers request for deeply discounted prices, and the basis for the pricing of EBA’s at the point of purchase was the valuation of the assets, just to mention a few.
The AMCON boss further stated that due to the socio-economic downturn recently, the market values of assets have significantly reduced, lower than the valuation at the point of Eligible Bank Asset (EBA) purchase, making it extremely difficult to consummate sales transactions.
He argued that with the support of the National Assembly and the Judiciary, recovering the total current exposure on all EBAs may be possible before the sunset period.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Honourable Victor Nwokolo representing Ika Northeast/Ika South Federal Constituency who received the list, said the Committee demanded the list to enable the National Assembly to know those that have refused to pay.
He said the goal is to enable them meet with relevant agencies of the Federal Government and determine how to further deal with the debtors to ensure that AMCON realised its mandate in the overall interest of the Nigeria economy.
Nwokolo who commended the commitment of the AMCON Chairman noted that the agency has been operating under difficult conditions since its establishment, which according to him has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, that affected businesses globally.
He said that since the debt recovery assignment of AMCON which has been impacted by prevailing economic realities caused by COVID-19, the National Assembly was stepping in to see how it can assist the agency in the recovery drive.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the AMCON Amendment Act, thereby amending the AMCON Act No. 4, 2010. The Act provides for the extension of tenor of the Resolution Cost Fund (RCF) 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 (EBAs), and related matters.’’
The law according to Nwokolo would help AMCON recover the huge outstanding debt, while disclosing that the National Assembly was considering sanctioning those whose names made the list.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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