The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria said on Friday that it had submitted a list of its top 1,000 debtors to the National Assembly as part of the strategy to intensify its debt recovery drive.
AMCON put the total current exposure on all eligible bank assets at N4.4tn, saying the market values of the assets had significantly reduced below the valuation at the point of purchase due to the socio-economic downturn, making it extremely difficult to consummate sales transactions.
It said in a statement the list of the “recalcitrant obligors” was submitted to the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency at a retreat of the committee in Lagos.
A top source told Saturday PUNCH that the 1,000 debtors were responsible for 90 per cent of the total debt of N4.4tn, translating to N3.9tn.
The source said, “The 1,000 debtors are those responsible for the big-ticket debts. Many prominent Nigerians across different sectors of the economy are on the list. These people and their companies are responsible for 90 per cent of the total current exposure on all eligible bank assets put at N4.4tn.”
The source added that if AMCON was able to recover the debts owed by the 1,000 top debtors, the story would be different from what it was currently.
The President, Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday signed into law the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amendment) Act, amending the AMCON Act No.4, 2010.
The AMCON Act provides for the extension of the tenor of the resolution cost fund and grants access to the Special Tribunal established by the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 2020, which confers on AMCON the power to, among others, “take possession, manage, foreclose or sell, transfer, assign or otherwise deal with the asset or property used as security for Eligible Bank Assets, and related matters.”
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr Victor Nwokolo, who received the list from the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Mr Ahmed Kuru, was quoted as saying that the committee called for the list so that the National Assembly would knowa “those holding the country to ransom.”
He said this would enable the lawmakers to meet with relevant agencies of the Federal Government on how to further deal with the debtors to ensure the realisation of AMCON’s mandate in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy.
Nwokolo, who commended the commitment of the Kuru-led agency, said the corporation had been operating under a very difficult condition since its establishment, adding that this had been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the harsh economic realities caused by COVID-19 meant that “the recovery assignment AMCON is doing for the country has been further compounded, which is why the National Assembly is looking at ways of further supporting the recovery drive.”