The
Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has made a major breakthrough
for the Federal Government as it has recovered over N681bn from debtors.
Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmed Kuru
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has recovered over
N681.5bn from chronic debtors in the last six years of its operation,
its Managing Director, Alhaji Ahmed Kuru, said in Abuja on Monday.
Kuru, who made the disclosure at an interactive session with Judges
of the Federal High Court, said the amount was recovered from the
debtors in form of cash, properties and shares.
He stated that most of the recoveries were made possible through court-sanctioned settlements or outright judgment.
Kuru revealed that AMCON had at least N1.7tn worth of assets under litigation across the country, adding that “this underscores the need for an effective resolution mechanism through the courts’’.
AMCON was primarily established to tackle the issue of
non-performing loans from the books of banks and to restructure such
banks. It has special powers to ensure that recalcitrant debtors are
unable to deploy legal technicalities to slow the pace of the legal
process.
According to Kuru, the judiciary remains the most important stakeholders in the realisation of the corporation’s mandate.
He said, “We realise that when all other resolution strategies
fail, we have to resort to the courts in order to exercise our special
enforcement powers.
“We understand the crucial role of the judiciary, that is why
we always look forward to opportunities like this where we can share
some of our unique experiences towards ensuring that justice is done in
all our cases based on a thorough understanding of the unique regime
under which AMCON was established.”
He reassured that the agency would continue to partner with various
arms of government especially the judiciary in furtherance of its
mandate.
The Managing Director expressed the hope that all AMCON matters
brought before the courts would continue to receive the urgent attention
they deserve.
“We hope that there will be more opportunities for collaborations like this in the future,’’ he added.
Kuru said the presentations would focus on the role of AMCON as an
intervention agency of the Federal Government in rescuing banks and
saving Nigeria’s economy from collapse.
According to him, three topics meant to enrich the understanding of
the Judges in appreciating the scope of AMCON’s mandate and its
application to real life situations had been selected for discussion
during the interactive session.
The topics are Receivership under the AMCON Act, scope and
application; Role of the Judiciary in Effective and Efficient Recovery
of AMCON Debts and Comprehensive Appraisal of the Special Powers of
AMCON under the AMCON Act and the AMCON Practice Directions.
In her remarks, the Administrator of the National Judicial
Institute, Mrs Rosaline Bozimo, urged judicial officers to partner with
AMCON, to enable it to recover bad debts across the country.
She said that such intervention was imperative because “monstrous
debtors” had continued to utilise the judicial system and legal
technicalities to frustrate the debt recovery efforts of AMCON.
“I believe the fundamental concern that principally underscores
AMCON’s efforts to engage My Lords on these Special Powers that
constitute a paradigm shift in conventional debt recovery roadmap cannot
be overemphasised,’’ she added.
-NAN
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