The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has asked its partners to use the powers of law, particularly the amended Act setting up the corporation to squeeze debtors who still owe it some N5trn.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AMCON, Mr Ahmed Kuru, who made the request, attested to the efficacy of the processes of receivership and winding up procedures as amended in the 2019 AMCON Act, which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law last year.
He called on Asset Management Partners (AMPs) of the Corporation to leverage those provisions among other potent aspects of the Act to rave up recoveries.
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Even as its sunset draws near with each passing year, AMCON, he said, was still heavily burdened by over N5trn, which is yet to be recovered.
Kuru spoke at a one-day seminar for AMCON AMPs facilitated by Dr. Fatihu Abba’s Legal Academy at the Trancorp Hotel, Abuja.
He said ever since the Act was signed into law by Mr. President, the Corporation has witnessed some remarkable improvement in its recovery efforts, which is why it is a veritable tool that AMPs should explore to its maximum.
Kuru charged partners of AMCON in the recovery drive to tighten the noose on obligors using the “weapon” of the amended AMCON Act to stop a few recklessness individuals who have continued to take advantage of the loopholes in our laws to escape their moral and legal obligations to repay their debts.
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Describing the AMP schemes as “a major tool in the recovery efforts of the Corporation and key to its success,” the AMCON Chief Executive who was represented at the seminar by Mr Joshua Ikioda, AMCON’s Group Head of Enforcement called on all AMCON partners to intensify efforts using the added powers as provided by the AMCON Act.
But as they do, Kuru however cautioned that AMPs as professionals must also ensure that they were guided by strict compliance and within the confines of the law.
He said, “We have repeatedly made the point at every opportunity that all stakeholders must view the AMCON mandate as one of serious national importance. If at sunset AMCON is unable to recover the huge debt of over N5trillion, it becomes the debt of the Federal Government of Nigeria for which taxpayers’ monies will be used to settle.
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“The implication is that the general public will be made to pay for the recklessness of only a few individuals who continue to take advantage of the loopholes in our laws to escape their moral and legal obligations to repay their debts. We should not allow a few individuals to escape with our commonwealth. And we want to do it within the confines of the law.”
He said, “Our various interactions with stakeholders, and particularly feedbacks we receive from Honourable Judges necessitate continuous training and retraining our AMPs especially as it relates to challenges encountered during filling processes in court and enforcing AMCON’s rights on obligors’ assets.
“Also, considering the Corporation’s new enforcement strategy and our newly amended AMCON Act 2019, the role of AMPs become even more vital and cannot be overemphasised. We reiterate, our AMPs are very key to the success of AMCON.”
