AMCON: No more room for negotiation with debtors

The Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) says there will be no more room for negotiation with obligors.

Ahmed Kuru, managing director and chief executive officer of AMCON, said the company is tired of debtors coming to their office and telling lies about wanting to embark on a staggered payment which they ended up never complying.

He said most parts of the N5.4 trillion had been with the banks for five years before AMCON bought them over saying the debtors are yet to pay after seven years.

“Resolutions through staggered plans have never worked. Let us not forget that before those loans were transferred to AMCON they have been with the banks for over five years,” he said.

“Now, AMCON is almost seven years, so the facility has been running bad for 12 years. It is not easy to recover those kinds of facilities.

“So now we have changed our strategy from sitting down and drinking tea and the obligors telling us lies and we pretend that we don’t know you are telling us lies.

“There is no more time for lies because we have a sunset period. So now our focus is on recovery. We do not want to hear anything, you cannot come and tell me you are going to pay me in the next six years, I do not have that time.

“If you cannot pay me the money now then give me my assets because the assets belong to AMCON so that we can sell it.”

Kuru said in the situation where the assets of the indebted company are not enough to clear the debt, AMCON would go after the directors and their private companies.

He also said directors of companies would now be sought after so that they would be forced to take part in repaying the loans.

“We have changed our strategy. Before our strategy had been only resolution: you come, you give us a payment plan and we respect it.

“But we have realized that more than 80% of AMCON’s recoveries are as a result of either forfeiture or taking over of businesses or outright cash payment.

“My law allows me to not only go after the assets that are served as collateral but I can also go after the directors of companies. I can go after the assets that have not been served as collateral.

“This is where we are now heading to because the law had anticipated this situation that we are now in.”