TheCable

Jones Onyereri, chairman of the house of representatives’ committee on banking and currency, says the current economic situation has made it harder for the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to recover outstanding debts.

Onyereri disclosed this at a three-day retreat in Sokoto, aimed at building capacity of members of the committee on the emerging issues in the financial sector and banking industry.

“The problems we are currently facing are not just monetary policy issues, they are equally fiscal policy issues,” Onyereri said.

“Therefore, there is need for a convergence of both, and the establishment of the Financial Services Commission that will create an avenue where both of them can work together to get us out of our present situation.

“This retreat is therefore timely, given the enormous task that AMCON faces in its debt recovery efforts because of the current state of our economy.

“The current economic problem makes their (AMCON) harder but that notwithstanding, every debtor is obliged to pay their debt. AMCON therefore needs any assistance it can get in order to effectively fulfil its mandate.”

He also reminded the committee that the retreat offered the members another opportunity to further interact with AMCON for a better understanding of its challenges and how the national assembly could be of help to the corporation.

While promising that the committee would engage in in-depth analysis and discussions on major issues affecting AMCON and its operations, Onyereri said the recent introduction of Asset Management Partners (AMPs) is a bold step in the right direction in the debt recovery effort.

“At a time like this, debt recovery is a daunting and enormous task that requires you think outside of the box and come up with innovative ways of accomplishing the task within the ambits of the law,” he said.

“The collaboration with AMPs, which is a consortium of professionals with specialist’s skills in banking, legal, valuation and accounting, represents a new down in AMCON’s debt recovery efforts aimed towards strengthening the capacity for more recoveries.”

Ahmed Kuru, managing director/chief executive officer of AMCON, who attended the retreat with the corporation’s executive directors, told the committee that he was worried with the growing rascality among AMCON’s obligors.

He said this had made it compelling for AMCON to perpetually depend on the judiciary for meaningful recoveries.

He also informed them that AMCON was dealing with obligors that have the financial capacity to engage AMCON from court to court in their plot to evade repayment, thereby sabotaging the effort of the federal government to resuscitate the economy.

Kuru expressed enthusiasm that with the continued support of the house, AMCON would realise its objective.