The Asset Management
Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) 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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