AMCON Seeks Special Tribunal For Quick Recovery Of N5.4tr Debt

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is seeking a special tribunal for hearing financial matters in order to recover N5.4 trillion debt.

To achieve this, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AMCON, Mr Ahmed Kuru, has appealed to the National Assembly to be accommodated in the provisions of the newly amended Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020 (BOFIA, 2020).

He made the plea before the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions at the National Assembly.

Kuru said the proposed amendment and a few others would be critical to AMCON’s expected deliverables as they would enable the corporation to resolve the debts fast.

According to a statement from the corporation, the Senate Committee chaired by Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna State) had invited AMCON top executives and that of other key stakeholders/sister agencies of the Federal Government including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for another engagement regarding the amendment of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act No.3 (Amendment Bill) 2021.

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Kuru said, “The designation of a special tribunal for financial cases immediately assumes the achievement of quicker resolution of matters in Court as the Judges are designated to hear only such financial matters.

“Moreover, BOFIA prescribes a maximum period of six months to conclude matters brought before the Tribunal. AMCON being accommodated under this Tribunal will assist AMCON with its speed of recovery.”

Providing justification on the proposal, Kuru reminded the Committee that Section 61 (b) is ascribing a tenor for the operation of the Resolution Cost Fund, describes same as a period of 10 years from the calendar year 2010 but may be extended by not more than a maximum of five years by the National Assembly.

This, he said, was done under the assumption that the debt obligations would be completed within 10 years.

“The effect of the above description therefore is that the tenor ascribed for the life of the Resolution Cost Fund has elapsed by time. Going by this, the tenor expired in December 2020. The need for the amendment of the provision of the Act therefore becomes inevitable towards ensuring a sustained operation of the activities of AMCON,” Kuru stated.

According to him, it is worrisome that if AMCON disposes of all the assets securing the loans, it can only realise slightly above N1 trillion with the liability in excess of N5.4 trillion. He noted that the AMCON Act encourages asset tracing for accounts for the gap, plus contributions from the financial institutions including the CBN.

He expressed regret that as of today, the contributors had not been able to meet the expected yearly amounts, which he attributed to assumptions that have not materialised.

Kuru added that the only remedy was to provide an inbuilt legal mechanism that would compel them to contribute in addition to recoveries until the whole debt is paid, otherwise the obligation falls on taxpayers.