The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has called on all agencies of the Federal Government and its stakeholders to engage its debt retrieval drive as it strives to secure an outstanding N4.4trillion debt.
The statement was disseminated recently by AMCON where it documented that a failure to recover the debt would further damage the nation’s economy.
According to the agency, the N4.4trillion is bigger than the entire 2021 capital expenditure budget of the Federal Government, which stands at N3.85trillion.
The agency speculates that recovery of the wealth can help in refurbishing the iron and steel sectors, as well as improve electricity in the country. It will also help in the Federal Government’s job creation efforts and reduce the crime rate in the country.
In a statement, AMCON assured that it is determined to recover these debts because the money belongs to Nigerians.
AMCON added that the huge debt if recovered would be enough to capitalize over 2million Micro Businesses with N2million cash injection each or 200,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with N20million per SME, which would create over 10million jobs in the country. The agency said thousands of unemployed youths who are involved with all sorts of violent crimes would be positively engaged.
These startling revelations were contained in a paper that Mr Joshua Ikioda, the Group Head of AMCON Enforcement presented in Abuja, titled “Overview of AMCON from Cradle to Date and the Implications of Bad Debt to the Nigerian Economy.”
He made the presentation at the just concluded 2-day training for Federal High Court Legal Assistants and Court Registrars in Abuja.
The event was declared open by Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and attended by Dr Eberechukwu Uneze and Mr Aminu Ismail both Executive Directors of AMCON as well as Hon. Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha also of the Federal High Court.
AMCON MD/CEO Mr Ahmed Kuru in his keynote address at the beginning of the training, which ended at the weekend, said AMCON cannot over-flog the important role of the Judiciary in national development.
Kuru who was represented by Dr Uneze said, “We are just a government recovery agency saddled with the responsibility of purchasing non-performing loans from Banks and ensuring it is paid back using the instrumentality of the law. Unfortunately, it did not turn out to be that easy, as we encountered a lot of challenges.
“The debtors get wiser by the day, deliberately orchestrating legal delays knowing that AMCON has a sunset date. The AMCON Act was amended in 2015 to address some of the encountered challenges, again obligors got wiser, hence necessitating another amendment in 2019 all with the single objective of recovering the loans bought from banks to settle our debt without recourse to taxpayers money, this outstanding exposure is not a small amount of money.
“Due to the limited lifespan of AMCON, there is a need for a speedy and simplified litigation process. The reason is clear: AMCON is a special purpose vehicle for the recovery of ‘toxic’ debts.
The debts are so bad that the government had to purchase them to prevent a collapse of the economy. AMCON’s mandate is therefore to recover these debts for our common survival to be guaranteed. The rationale behind the AMCON regime is therefore to quickly recover the bad debts within a legal framework that ensures speed without compromising fair hearing.
“AMCON jurisprudence is primarily regulated by the AMCON Act 2010 (as amended in 2015 and 2019), Federal High Court Practice Directions of 2013, and The Federal High Court AMCON Rules 2018.
The Directions and the Rules have introduced a new culture of expediency in determining AMCON matters at the Federal High Court. Insisting that AMCON needs all hands to be on deck, the CEO added, “The amended AMCON Act 2019 was a robust attempt to address the shortcomings in the erstwhile AMCON Instruments i.e., the 2010 Principal enactment and the 2015 amendment.
“I must also reiterate that the amendment also became very necessary given our experience with recalcitrant debtors who constantly try to avoid, circumvent, and deny commitments and obligations.
These obligors rather than settle their indebtedness, prefer to rely on technicalities to frustrate the corporation from acting against them.
“The amended Act has far-reaching implications to the mandates of the corporation in resolving troubled assets especially as they relate to recalcitrant obligors. The amended Act reposed the corporation with phenomenal powers that are disconnected from common sense and convention.
Accordingly, the corporation must embark on extensive public awareness by engaging the Hon. Registrars and Legal Assistants to the Hon. Judges of the Federal High Court,” Kuru concluded.
The training, which was organized by the Fatihu Abba-led Legal Academy under the auspices of the office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court was designed to enlighten Legal Assistants and Registrars of the Federal High Court on the AMCON mandate. It was themed, “The Role Of Registrars And Legal Assistants In The Effective And Efficient Realization Of AMCON Mandate.”