AMCON recovers over N1.4tn out of N5tn debt

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) says it has recovered over N1.4 trillion, out of a total N5 trillion debt owed it by obligors.

This revelation comes as the Federal Government has been asked to expand the laws that granted AMCON special debt recovery powers into a national law that would insulate the banking sector against reckless borrowers.

AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communication, Jude Nwauzor, in a statement on Sunday said the Federal Government’s debt recovery agency, had at different phases from the year of its establishment purchased 12,743 NPLs or Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs) worth N3.8 trillion from 22 Eligible Financial Institutions (EFIs) for a purchase price of N1.8 trillion.

“Since then, AMCON has worked tirelessly to recover the huge debt, which is covered by various collaterals. But as the years roll by, AMCON obligors have become more daring, and hiding under all manners of legal technicalities to evade payment of their debts,” Nwauzor said.

However, speaking at the weekend at the training of Solicitors, Receivers and Receiver/Managers at a Eko Hotel, Lagos, Mr Oluwakemi Balogun SAN, of the firm of Oluwakemi LP, said debt recovery in Nigeria will continue to burden AMCON as well as the financial sector as long as the system allows some Nigerians to brazenly walk into banks to borrow money with no intention to repay.

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Balogun said something drastic must be done by the government to save the country as some Nigerians in the last 25 years have perfected the act of going to different banks to borrow money and have serially defaulted in the repayment agreement because the country has no policy that guides such recklessness.

To mitigate against such ugly development, the legal luminary declared: “We need to have a national law that will assist lenders (banks and financial institutions). We must have a national policy. There must be a national law on debt recovery.

“This law should not just be for only AMCON as a government agency but for the nation as a whole. That is one of the ways we can curb the bad behaviour.

“In some other economies you cannot borrow money and refuse to pay back and go scot-free. Therefore, Nigeria should not allow recalcitrant debtors to go unpunished.”

AMCON Managing Director/CEO, represented by Mr Benedict Daminabo, a Group Head of Asset Management, had earlier said the agency will continue to highlight the dangers of not recovering the debt because of its grave implication.

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According to him, “We have repeatedly made the point at every opportunity that all stakeholders must view the AMCON mandate as one of serious national importance. If at sunset AMCON is unable to recover the huge debt of over N5 trillion, it becomes the debt of the Federal Government of Nigeria for which taxpayers’ monies will be used to settle.

“The implication is that the public will be made to pay for the recklessness of only a few individuals who continue to take advantage of the loopholes in our laws to escape their moral and legal obligations to repay their debts. As a matter of fact, we have reached a point in our country where all stakeholders (the federal government, the judiciary, the legislature and the public) must work together to fight the common enemy of this huge debt burden.”

AMCON is steadily making remarkable recoveries but still has about 7,902 outstanding obligors with total outstanding loan of N3.142 trillion. Of this number, 350 of the agency’s obligors account for N2.053 trillion, which is above 65% of total outstanding amount.