Many organisations and prominent individuals are going to get into the Federal Government’s Black-book for their whopping N5 trillion debt to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
\nThe implication: they will not do any business with government until they pay up their debts.
\nTo head an inter-agency arrangement to enforce the new plan is none other than the nation’s number two man, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
\nOsinbajo, the Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), dropped hint of government’s plan when he hosted some members of the AMCON Board at the State House, Abuja.
\nProf Osinbajo said the debtors made it impossible for the corporation to resolve its outstanding N5 trillion debts, thereby holding the entire nation to ransom with their \u201cbad behaviour\u201d.
\nThere are 105 debtors on the AMCON list. They include key players in aviation, power, real estate, oil and gas, as well as other sectors of the economy.
\nAMCON has recovered over N1 trillion since inception in 2011.
\nOf the recovered funds, cash assets account for 60 per cent and non-cash assets, such as properties and equity securities, account for the balance of 40 per cent. Over the same period, AMCON\u2019s repayment of its indebtedness to the CBN was over N1 trillion.
\nThe vice president plans to invite the AMCON team alongside other MDAs to fine-tune how to ensure that anybody or agency that is a debtor to AMCON faces the wrath of the Federal Government as those who are indebted to the government are direct enemies of both the government and the people.
\nHe said the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari will no longer allow a few individuals who owe AMCON huge sums of money walk freely on the streets. Osinbajo said: \u201cI think the time has come for us (Federal Government) to set some examples with some of these top debtors of AMCON, which I believe will set a good example and serve as deterrent to others.\u201d
\nOsinbajo, who expressed satisfaction with the performance of the executive management of AMCON under Ahmed Kuru\u2019s watch, promised that the government would support AMCON.
\nHe said that the Corporation would be empowered with the tools to go after the obligors who have remained recalcitrant despite the olive branch extended to them over the years by the debt recovery agency.
\nOsinbajo said: \u201cI congratulate AMCON for the work done so far having recovered over N1 trillion and counting both in cash and in assets. The work you do as a recovery agency is not something that is particularly easy or encouraging because we all know how Nigeria works. But we are committed to working more closely with your administration to ensure that these monies are recovered from AMCON obligors because it will help our economy and provide the government with more money to continue to improve on the development of infrastructure across the nation.\u201d
\nBanire said AMCON\u2019s visit was to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President on their victory at the polls. He highlighted some of the challenges faced by AMCON as a result of the attitudes of some debtors who behave as if they are above the law.
\nBanire said: \u201cAs at end of December, 2018, AMCON\u2019s Assets Under Management (AUM) amounted to about N172.5 billion.
\n\u201cIt is noteworthy to state that out of the total real estate properties, assets available for sale are valued at N62 billion. Of this N62 billion, about 83 per cent comprises bare land and other assets, which may need considerable improvement to convert into income generating assets. Your Excellency may recall that in September 2018, following the takeover of Skye Bank Plc. by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), AMCON was again invited to inject a total sum of N898.45 billion as capital, thereby leading to the emergence of another bridged bank named Polaris Bank Limited.
\n\u201cThe intervention in Skye Bank was caused majorly by internal abuse by the operators. As a result of that development, AMCON\u2019s total debt obligation to the CBN is currently in excess of N6 trillion.
\n\u201cAnd it is evident that the Federal Government cannot afford to write off this debt in the short term, hence, our moral obligation to pursue obligors and recover the debts owed. But, despite the successes recorded, the corporation has been facing a number of challenges, which include obligors resorting to all manner of tactics to avoid honouring their obligations.
\n\u201cWhilst some are still enjoying government patronage, others are using the judiciary and adopting legal technicalities to stall recovery, which is why we need a new strategy to enable AMCON meet its mandate before sunset.\u201d
\nKuru said he could not wait for the take-off of the inter-agency collaboration promised by Osinbajo as, according to him, such a move would compel all sister agencies to be on the same page in the interest of the country.
\nThe AMCON boss also reminded the vice president that AMCON\u2019s debts sits on the government\u2019s balance sheet with CBN, and failure to recover them may result in serious consequences including recourse to tax payers\u2019 money, which must be avoided.
\n\u201cHe said for an organisation like AMCON with sunset date, all hands must be on deck to provide the support required. According to him, considering the huge portfolio of debt, no obligor must be allowed to go scot free \u2013\u00a0 no matter how highly placed in the society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many organisations and prominent individuals are going to get into the Federal Government’s Black-book for their whopping N5 trillion debt to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The implication: they will not do any business with government until they pay up their debts. To head an inter-agency arrangement to enforce the new plan is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17842\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}