Shareholders, under the aegis of the Independent Shareholders Association (ISAN), have again called on the federal government to completely review the operations of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, the coordinator emeritus of ISAN, Sir Sunny Nwosu said, “As concerned domestic investors, our patriotism is not in doubt as we demand once again the complete review of AMCON to determine its relevance to the economy or totally abrogate the agency following the declining values of companies taken over by the corporation and the current national economic challenges.”
He recalled that Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria(AMCON) was established in 2010 by the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to take over the non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking sector.
He noted that the establishment of the corporation was received by shareholders with mixed feelings, the agency’s mandate of safeguarding the banking sector, equally settled in fast with the corporation’s warehousing of more than N5 trillion bad loans and injection of fresh funds into the banking sector.
Nwosu, however, said, after 12 years of the agency’s operations, Nigerian shareholders have come to the conclusion that the funding of AMCON with levies from commercial banks’ cannot continued because of its negative impact on returns on investment and the incapacitation of commercial banks to adequately intervene in the nation’s real sector.
“The fundamental of our argument is premised on the fact that AMCON was not set up by the banks, but by the federal government, which must take responsibility for its operations,” he explained.
According to Nwosu, AMCON is currently reported to have about N1.7 trillion worth of assets under litigation across the country, disclosing further that as at August 2022, the total recoveries so far by the corporation are pegged at about N1.4 trillion.
He noted that the poor recovery of the agency has prompted most stakeholders rush to ascertain the current value of the forfeited asset stocks, stating that, their inquisition followed noticeable failed efforts made by organisation to dispose the assets.
He expressed that shareholders urged the federal government and Central Bank of Nigeria to rise up to the national systemic banking industry challenges through sustainable financial sector bail out.
“Shareholders serious believe that the federal government floating of AMCON is a distraction that has prolonged the banking industry challenges and must be eliminated with huge funds intervention like in most developing and developed climes.
“Our position like we said before is that AMCON has overstayed its function and urged the CBN to suspend levying commercial banks,” Nwosu said.
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