By Dele Castro
Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, made a total of N307 Billion in debt recovery in two years spanning 2020 and 2021.
This was contained in a statement made on Wednesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande.
Osinbajo, in his remarks, while receiving a report from an Inter-government Committee setup to recover debt owed to the AMCON, disclosed that the agency recorded 10 percent performance growth in the period under review.
“For instance, in the year 2020, the sum of N146 Billion was recovered, while in 2021, the sum of N161 Billion was also recovered. The recovery outlook for 2022 is also looking positive, and the Committee will not relent in its effort to engender more recoveries”, he said.
He urged the Committee not to relent on its assignment with the institution of bankruptcy proceedings, tax infractions and ensure debtors are brought under AMCON’s recovery net.
Prof. Osinbajo added that the government would review it and act accordingly, observing that the issue of AMCON debtors doing further business with government agencies was a due diligence matter and there would have to be compliance with the requirements of the law.
Members of the Inter-Agency Committee inaugurated in 2019 are made up of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, AMCON and other agencies.
The mandates of the committee included the review of status of debt owed to AMCON, collation information relating to respective debtors and their current status, deliberate on practical, legal and other strategies for the recovery of the outstanding debt, among others.
Professor Prof. Bolaji Owasonoye, SAN, chairman of the Committee who doubles as chairman of the ICPC noted that the Committee immediately commenced work upon inauguration, but the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic inevitably slowed down the pace of activities and enforcement measures.
