- AMCON said it is planning a new drive in dealing decisively with the top debtors who are unwilling to pay
- The recovery agency said, as part of the new drive, it will adopt “name and shame” option, especially for politically exposed debtors
- It vowed to deal with unrepentant debtors in a manner that has never been witnessed before in the country
Just as the elections draw near, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has vowed to go tough on its debtors, especially the Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), saying it will soon adopt the option of “name and shame”.
The move, which may jolt the political environment when executed, according to the corporation, is in top gear.
The debt recovery agency said the “name and shame” option has become necessary with the great resistance of the debtors who are adjudged capable but unwilling to pay.
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AMCON’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Kuru, made the disclosure while presenting the corporation’s 2017 audited accounts, The Guardian reports.
NAIJ.com gathered that the move is part of the new drive in dealing decisively with the top obligors.
Kuru said that 350 debtors of AMCON account for almost 80% of the over N5 trillion huge debt burden, adding that these must be recovered because AMCON borrowed to purchase the Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs) during the first and second phases of the takeover of the bad loans from the banks.
Noting that AMCON has about five more years to wind down operations, he warned that PEPs and other business heavyweights who think they are untouchable will not be spared in the enforcement process that is being fine-tuned by the recovery agency.
Kuru said that at the moment, the corporation is restructuring its operational processes to enable it to go after these crops of unrepentant debtors in a manner that has never been witnessed before in the country.
Explaining the challenges of the agency’s task, he said: “I think people need to pity us because we are at that stage in the life of the Corporation where we are dealing with the hardcore because the low hanging fruits have been dealt with earlier in the life of AMCON.
“I want you to understand that we are sitting on a substantial amount of assets, which we must one way or the other resolve on or before our sunset, which is around 2023/24.
“As we close in on these individuals and entities that owe us, I want you to know that they will call us names, blackmail us, threaten us, malign and harass us. However, I can tell you that as hard as they will try, we will not be deterred in going about our normal duties as mandated by law.”
Kuru added that it was important for the media to have a full understanding of the magnitude of the challenges faced by AMCON and help it to recover public funds held up by individuals who heavily borrowed money from banks with no intention to repay, which contributed in no small way in destroying the economy.
He reiterated that AMCON played a strategic role in rebuilding the nation’s economy with the recapitalisation of the banks, which prevented a systemic collapse of not only the banks but also the unimaginable costs on the economy.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that AMCON and a new generation bank allegedly engaged in illegal sale of land.
According to a report by The Cable, the land which is valued at N5 billion, is said to belong to an indigenous real estate development company, Grant Properties Limited.
The 50-hectare land in Lekki, Lagos, had been reportedly earmarked for an estate by GPL.
However, the bank allegedly secretly sold the land to one of its directors for a fraction of its valued price.
GPL was said to have taken a loan from three other banks and the bank fingered in the illegal deal with AMCON, to part-finance the development of the estate.
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Source: Naija.ng