The Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani has revealed that the committee has resolved to join hands with AMCON to push for the recovery of N5 trillion for which high-profile Nigerians have defaulted.
A media release issued at the end of a retreat organized by AMCON on Wednesday, signed by Senator Uba Sani, who represents Kaduna Central at the upper chamber expressed displeasure at the mounting debt profile of AMCON.
The Committee, he said, lamented that “after sinking the humongous Nigerian resources to the tune of N4 Trillion into taking over non-performing loan assets of banks, AMCON today only boasts of N800 billion assets”.
Describing the situation as “clearly unacceptable”, the committee said it has resolved to “confront the AMCON problem frontally, as the institution has become a huge drain on the national economy”.
The committee also frowned at “a situation where only 350 well-heeled Nigerians account for about 70% of the non-performing loans which have remained a source of instability in our financial system”.
The committee however commented President Muhammadu Buhari for setting up a Task Force for the recovery of the over N5 Trillion indebtness to AMCON and signing into law the AMCON (Amendment) Act 2019 which gave “sweeping powers to the corporation to monitor activities of the Nigerian debtors to ensure they do not unduly take advantage of the weakness in the country’s banking systems”.
The Committee then declared its resolve to close ranks with AMCON in the compilation of “a comprehensive list of Nigeria’s high-profile debtors and proceed to publish without delay, their names, “except the persons in question commence immediate repayment of their loans”.
He revealed that part of the steps to be taken by the Committee towards successful recovery of the debt “is to engage with the Executive, Judiciary and civil society to fashion out workable strategy to fast-track this recovery of Nigeria’s loan assets”.
According to the media release, other steps the committee intends to take includes “inviting the founding fathers of AMCON to rub minds with our committee on the rationale for committing such incredible amount of resources to debts incurred by Nigerians who have shown scant regard for majority of their countrymen and women and are not committed to growth and development of our economy”.
