ICPC steps into AMCON recovery, to set up joint taskforce

Bolaji Owasanoye, the chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has unveiled plans to join Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)N5trillion debt recovery.

Owasanoye said this while receiving AMCON delegation, led by its chairman, Muiz Banire, at ICPC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

While describing the huge debt profile of AMCON as sobering situation especially as the figure represents about 50 percent of Nigeria’s 2019 budget, Owosanoye said the situation has become an existential challenge for the country since the few people who are holding the country to ransom are still walking free and waxing strong in the society.

Considering the positive impact, the funds would have in the economy if recovered, Owosanoye said that the time has come for the ICPC and other relevant sister agencies to partner AMCON and support the debt recovery drive.

He, however, pledged that the ICPC under his leadership is ready to work with Ahmed Lawan Kuru, managing director at AMCON and the Board members to recover as much of these debts as possible before sunset.

Recalling that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had also raised concerns over the huge debt in a similar forum, the ICPC Chairman said, the commission would be interested in tracing the transactional history of the different loans especially the high profile ones with a view to establishing any irregularity, which could have contributed to its hard-core nature, with obligors refusing to pay 

“We have to be practical in our approach. Something needs to be done and very fast too given the approaching AMCON sunset because this is public funds we are talking about here,” he said.

“We need AMCON and ICPC to work closer and develop a strategy that would work. We need the public to know the opportunity cost of the huge debt to the Nigerian economy, we need to share information as sister agencies locally and internationally and treat this matter as a last lap race by setting up a joint taskforce to deal with this sobering issue,” he added.

The ICPC boss, who is of the opinion that obligors of AMCON are made to face the music, said this would serve as deterrent to others.

“If these matters are not properly challenged and well treated, we can predict based on history that these set of people or their clones would repeat this circle of borrowing and would tell you that in the past, some people borrowed and defaulted and nothing happened. So something has to be done,” he added. 

Earlier in their submissions, both Banire who led the delegation and Kuru, AMCON managing director, highlighted some of the high-profile obligors of the Corporation including some 350 individuals that account for 80 percent of the entire debt obligation.

They also reiterated the fact AMCON would at this time in its lifespan need the collaboration of the ICPC to go after these obligors especially since AMCON on its own does not have the powers to invite, arrest or prosecute obligors as the only option open to AMCON remains the court.