Senate seeks to expand AMCON’s duties beyond asset recovery

Rafiu Ibrahim, chairman, senate committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions, says the upper chamber will empower the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to realise its mandate.

According to a statement by AMCON, the senator said this on Thursday at the opening of the committee’s retreat.

Ibrahim said the senate has decided that AMCON requires more support from the legislature if indeed Nigerians expect the corporation to succeed in line with its sunset clause.

“Since inauguration, AMCON has been a key stabilising and re-vitalising tool in the Nigerian financial system and requires more support from the legislature to achieve its statutory objectives.

“In this retreat, we hope to make a case for AMCON to take on a larger and more proactive economic responsibility especially given its special place in the economy. To this end, serious conversation needs to occur on how best AMCON can intervene in the current economic situation of Nigeria beyond asset recovery.”

He said the fallout of the discussion at the end of the retreat would lead to pronouncements from the 8th senate, which would comprehensively empower AMCON to better carry out its functions.

He said the senate is heavily interested in the activities of AMCON because the leadership of the current senate mapped out its legislative agenda with economic recovery bill as a top priority.

“There is need for a change of strategy. This job is not an easy assignment by any definition because every obligor has a perception of AMCON and are willing to tie us up in court,” Ahmed Kuru, AMCON CEO, said while speaking at the retreat.

“That is why you see that every week we have fresh enemies. Therefore we need very strong legislative framework, which would for instance make it possible for all AMCON cases to terminate at the Appeal Court.”