AMCON amendment bill ready in two weeks, says Onyereri

Jones Onyereri, chairman of house of representatives committee on banking and currency, says the AMCON amendment act will be presented to the house for third reading in two weeks.

He made this disclosure on Tuesday, while on a routine oversight function visit to the Corporate Head Office of AMCON in Maitama, Abuja.

The bill is seeking to further empower and embolden AMCON with more powers to go after chronic obligors of the corporation.

After a grilling session following AMCON 2018 budget performance presentation by Ahmed Kuru, managing director/CEO of AMCON, the lawmaker, reaffirmed the commitment of the house to support AMCON in the recovery of huge outstanding debt.

“As speak to you now, I want to assure you that this committee, which I humbly serve as Chairman would in the next one or two weeks submit the AMCON Amendment Bill to the House of Representatives for the third reading,” he said.

“It would be moved to the Senate for final deliberation. The committee has worked tirelessly to ensure that when the Bill is passed, AMCON will be further empowered to deliver on their mandate.”

He added that if AMCON is to deliver on their mandate by recovering the over N5.4trillion outstanding debt, the corporation will need the support and association of all other government agencies to succeed.

“We have thoroughly reviewed the 2018 budget performance of the corporation vis-à-vis what was approved for them,” he added.

“The committee is satisfied with the performance, which would also help the committee make projections and also provide guidance as the case may be against their 2019 budget.”

As drilling as the session was, Kuru in his remark described the oversight visit by the committee as a good feedback mechanism, which has over the years afforded AMCON the opportunity to rub minds with the legislature as well as draw from the wisdom of the lawmakers to efficiently and effectively pilot the affairs of AMCON.

He, however, assured the lawmakers that the current management of AMCON under his leadership will continually remain prudent just as it would continue to persevere in the face of adversity posed by the difficult socio-political and economic realities in the country.