Mr. Aliyu Kalgo, the Group Head of Enforcements at Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and representative of AMCON MD, Mr. Ahmed Lawan Kuru (sitting middle) with a cross-session of participants and some staff of AMCON at the just concluded AMCON/AMP Feedback Session in Ikoyi, Lagos, recently

BY FRANCIS EZEM

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria AMCON, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, has assured that its Asset Management Partners AMPs are capable of recovering more than N740billion, which represents 20 per cent of the N3.7trillion total Eligible Bank Assets EBAs on the corporation’s portfolio currently in the hands of some recalcitrant obligors.

He therefore pledged that the corporation would throw its full weight behind the AMPs in line with its commitment towards recovering the assets before its sunset date sometime in 2024.

The AMPs are recovery firms engaged by AMCON in 2016 to complement its recovery efforts as part of its renewed strategy towards resolving most of the 6,000 accounts within its portfolio of accounts.

The Managing Director made this declaration in Lagos at the just concluded 2018 edition of the AMCON/AMPs Feedback Session, saying that such sessions have provided a veritable tool for the management of the corporation and the AMPs to exchange ideas on new mechanisms for the recovery of the assets in its books.

Represented by the Group Head of Enforcements of AMCON, Mr. Aliyu Kalgo, the AMCON boss while declaring the two-day event open said the corporation placed equal importance on the ability of the partners to recover the outsourced accounts because their efforts count towards the achievement of AMCON’s core mandate, and therefore urged the APMs as seasoned professionals to discharge their assignments within the defined rules of engagement as stipulated by the AMCON Act.

“It is a well-known fact that AMCON has a unique and limited mandate; therefore, AMCON must maximise every opportunity to state its cases with the highest quality of representation, which was why we came up with the AMP programme that has been of tremendous development in our efforts to recover debts owed the country by a few individuals who have over the years remained recalcitrant. We are very grateful for all the AMPs who work with us towards achieving our recovery mandate. We are mindful of the enormous responsibility placed on your in this regard”, Kuru said.

On the plans by the corporation to ensure that AMPs experience a hitch-free recovery processes, the CEO, who argued that these debt when recovered would go a long way to boosting the economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria added, “We will continue to emphasise the need for more diligence even as we continue to partner with you. In the future, we will enlist AMPs who have made significant recoveries as part of the facilitators for similar events so that they will share some insights and critical success factors with us as well as their colleagues. If the recovery process was easy and straight forward we would not have engaged you in the first instance. We therefore recognise the fact that it is a challenging assignment and that is why we selected you. We promise to be with you all through the hardship and together we shall succeed.”

Also addressing the participants, Mr. Chuka Agbu SAN urged the AMPs to explore and apply the special powers as provided by the AMCON Act in their pursuit of these recalcitrant debtors of the corporation. The legal luminary further advised the AMPs to leverage the major provisions of the AMCON Act such as bankruptcy, receivership, asset tracing amongst others in their quest to track down the obligors and eventually compel them to repay their obligations.

Other participants, who made presentations at the programme from the different directorate of the corporation include Mr. Benedict Daminabo, Mr. Usman Abubakar, Mr. Kayode Alawonde, Mr. Kunle Olalekan, Mrs. Ibironke Ifederu, Mr. Ahmadu Tijani Abbas, Mr. Aaron Agada, Mr. Suleiman Ibrahim, Richard Olonishuwa, Mrs. Bridget Akika, Mr. Hassan Tanko who was represented by Mr. Andrew Eyo.