Alleged Non-Performance: Senate mulls scrapping AMCON

By Biola Adebayo On Dec 14, 2023

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The Management of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON came under fire on Wednesday at its budget defence Session with the Senate’s Committee on Banking Insurance and Other Financial Institutions over its poor performance as revealed in its balance sheet.

Members of the Committee are dissatisfied with the recovery agency’s financial statement, which revealed a loss of N146 billion in 2023 alone, and some lawmakers are pushing for a change to the laws establishing AMCOM or the abolition of the agency entirely.

This came up when the Managing Director of the agency, Ahmed Kuru, led top officials of the agency to the Senator Tokunbo Abiru, APC, Lagos East led Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions to present his 2023 financial records and to defend the 2024 budget estimates.

While some members of the Committee expressed their dissatisfaction with the performance of AMCON, others justified the existence of the agency despite the challenges confronting the agency.

AMCON is saddled with the statutory responsibility amongst others, of recovering the non-performing loan hitherto disbursed by eligible financial institutions (banks) to their customers.

Some members of the Committee expressed dissatisfaction with the agency’s performance in the outgoing fiscal year and wondered if it would not be better for the National Assembly to scrap it.

In his remarks, a member of the Committee and Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, APC, Niger East wondered while, despite its huge liabilities, AMCON was not aggressive enough in its loan recovery drives, said, “Most of the loans were owed by individual companies which were never sanctioned and at the end of the day, the same company would go back to buy back their asset that AMCON had hitherto taken over. Are we going to continue like this?

“It is not only about defending budget, it is about seeing the effect of the Appropriation, we need to know whether it is working. Or are we just creating a job for those we can protect?

“Will it not be better to scrap AMCON since it seems to have lost its statutory mandate?

Similarly, a member of the committee, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, APC, Ondo South who lamented the huge losses suffered by the assets recovery agency in the outgoing fiscal year, said, “Your total comprehensive profit and loss, and it came in to a loss of N145bn. This calls for concern.

“Your net operating profit and loss is N126bn. What is responsible for all these big losses? You are created to collect bank loans from them.

“Even if you’re now regulators to the debtors, why are you incurring losses? Your balance sheet is not looking so good. Again, why are you buying cash-collateralized loans?”

However, efforts by the Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, to defend the agency’s submissions did not go down well with some members as the Committee had to dissolve into a closed session.

After about 30 minutes, the doors of the committee room were thrown open and Abiru addressed journalists on the outcome of the executive session.

Abiru said, “The committee has agreed that there is the need for a strong financial system stability hence agencies like AMCON is still desirable.

“We also believe that the role of AMCON is further underscored by the fact that it was set up using a model that it would help us to tidy up the challenges that we had in the financial system in the past.

“The only challenge that we had today is that we need to have a definite time that all the obligations that are hanging on the throat of AMCON must be redeemed.

“The conclusion is that we will continue to work with AMCON and other agencies to fashion out a model that would make AMCON openly wound down its obligation at the possible shortest time.

“There is no society that does not have AMCON in one form or the other. The only way we can resolve financial stability is through the creation of an entity like this and we need to ensure its success.”

Earlier, Kuru had told the Committee that his administration had been able to recover about N648bn out of the agency’s total liabilities of N5trn as of 20th September 2023.

The performance of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON was heavily scrutinized by Federal Lawmakers in the Senate when the Management of the Agency appeared before the Committee to defend its 2024 Budget estimates, amounting to about N150 billion naira.

But the lawmakers were more concerned with AMCON’s balance sheet reflecting a loss of N146 billion, a performance they believe falls short of expectations.

Members believe the agency is yet to justify the purpose for which it was established and suggest an amendment or complete scrap of the agency.