AMCON asks asset partners to intensify efforts on N5trn debt recovery

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has asked its asset management partners (AMPs) to boost efforts on recovery of N5 trillion from obligors.

Ahmed Kuru, managing director of AMCON, was speaking at a two-day training for AMPs at the weekend, in Lagos.

He said the AMP scheme has become a major tool in the recovery efforts of the corporation and key to its success, since it was established five years ago.

According to Kuru, through its AMP scheme, the agency currently has about 6,000 eligible bank assets (EBAs) at different stages of resolution and about 3,000 matters at various courts in the country.

He noted that AMCON is chasing to recover over N5 trillion from obligors that have remained unwilling to repay their debt, out of which 350 obligors are holding on to debts worth N3.6 trillion.

Kuru, who was represented by Aliyu Kaglo, group head, resolution strategy of AMCON, at the event, said: “The AMP concept, which is playing a pivotal role in the recovery exercise, must scale up efforts because it would not be fair to allow this crop of obligors that have collectively destroyed the commonwealth of Nigerians, escape justice.”

He explained that the corporation will continue to engage with different stakeholders to ensure that they understand the AMCON act as amended.

“As we are aware, the AMCON act was amended by the National Assembly and subsequently assented to by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. This amendment further empowered in the Corporation special debt recovery powers and other prerogatives to aid its recovery of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) from recalcitrant debtors that are hiding under different tactics to delay repayment of their debt obligation,” he said.

“To ensure coherence of the amended Act with the AMCON Federal High Court Rules, the Honorable Chief Judge, Hon. Justice J.T. Tsoho was gracious enough to set up a committee to finetune the current AMCON Rules of Court to cover the amended provisions of the Act. This process is now in its concluding stages and it is therefore imperative that you (AMPs) as our pivotal stakeholders are brought up to speed with the new provisions of the Rules.”