The House of Representatives is working at amending the Act establishing the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Jones Onyereri, has said.
He said the proposed amendment would further empower and embolden AMCON to go after its debtors, especially those who hitherto think they can ride on some loopholes in the Act and perpetually engage AMCON in court.
Mr. Onyereri made the disclosure in Abuja at a one-day technical session with stakeholders such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Nigeria Insurance Deposit Corporation (NDIC) and members of the House Committee on Banking and Currency; AMCON management among others, where the challenges inhibiting AMCON from recovering were extensively discussed.
The committee also used the occasion to listen to presentations from the representatives of the CBN, NDIC and legal luminaries among others on how AMCON could function optimally as well as meet its mandate.
Speaking at the forum, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, described his assignment at AMCON as “very difficult,”.
He said there was need to change the recovery approach at the Corporation with the backing of the National Assembly especially since the remaining crop of AMCON debtors are defiant, recalcitrant and business heavyweights who have the financial wherewithal to repay their debts but have refused to pay by going to court to tie AMCON up.
“We have been doing this for the past seven years and we have realised that what we need now at this time in the life of AMCON is legislative help that would make it possible to recover these debts effectively and efficiently.
“At AMCON, we believe that the Act establishing the Corporation can be amended as many times as possible by the National Assembly as long as they think it is appropriate to do so in the interest of the Nigerian economy. Given the difficulties we are facing presently, we are of the opinion that the Act establishing AMCON should be amended to reflect our sunset period,” he explained.
He said the Corporation has realised that some of its obligors “have since established another lifestyle that are different from what brought them to AMCON so the best we can do as a law abiding agency of the government is take them to court”.
The National Assembly, which in the first place created AMCON in 2010, must do everything within its constitutional powers to protect the Corporation and pay more attention to AMCON sunset to enable AMCON fully recover the debts from the hard-core obligors who would stop at nothing to frustrate both AMCON, the National Assembly and the Nigerian populace, Mr. Kuru said.
