Buyers shun AMCON’s N182b assets

Buyers are shunning the N182 billion assets recovered from debtors by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, the organisation has said.
The Managing Director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, revealed this on Thursday in Lagos at a two-day retreat on AMCON Act Amendment Bill.
It was attended by members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions.
Kuru said: “Our ability to successfully divest these assets at competitive market price is severely hampered by several factors, including valuation methodology, unperfected title documents, state of the economy, purchasing power.
“The third challenge is the uncooperative attitudes of select obligors who are either unwilling and/or unable to settle their indebtedness.
“Such debtors prefer to resort to all manner of diversionary tactics as opposed to dealing with the problem of their indebtedness.
“It seems most of them are buying time, to where we do not know.”
The AMCON boss said the N4.8 trillion bad loans owed to the corporation represent 55 per cent of the 2018 budget.
He said given the current demands on the Federal Government, it is doubtful it can afford to expense AMCON’s debt in the short term.
Kuru reminded the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions that the ramifications for failure by AMCON to recover its debt go beyond economic cost.
He said: “It was for that reason, AMCON, after seven years of negotiating with the obligors with no commensurate recovery result, has decided to change its strategy, which now pays strict attention to enforcements as a way of compelling, especially the recalcitrant obligors to come and pay up their debts.”
To achieve this, however, Kuru said the Corporation will be heavily dependent on the legislature, most especially members of the committee to facilitate the amendment of the AMCON Act since most obligors of AMCON that are politically exposed and business heavyweights now employ different antics in law to tie the Corporation up in courts.
Further highlighting other challenges faced by the Corporation, the AMCON CEO said: “One of the major areas for amendment is the matter of vesting proprietary interest of all collateral assets acquired by AMCON from commercial banks.
“The proposed amendment will have retrospective effect.
“The vesting of proprietary interest of all collateral assets in the resolution vehicle was implemented in Malaysia and was instrumental to their success in recovering debt obligations.”