The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has recovered more than N681.5 billion from chronic debtors in the last six years, its Managing Director of Ahmed Kuru, revealed in Abuja on Monday.The revelation was at an interactive session with Judges of the Federal High Court. He 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 N1.7 trillion worth of assets under litigation across the country, adding that “this underscores the need for an effective resolution mechanism through the courts”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AMCON was primarily established to tackle 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 legal process.
According to Kuru, the judiciary remains the most important stakeholders in the realisation of the corporation’s mandate.
“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.
‘Sharing the experiences is to ensure that justice is done in all our cases based on a thorough understanding of the unique regime under which AMCON was established,” he said.
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. (NAN)