FG will No Longer Do Business with AMCON Debtors, Osinbajo Warns
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the weekend said the federal government will deal decisively with individuals and organisations that made the list of high-profile obligors of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
He said the debtors have made it impossible for the corporation to resolve its outstanding N5trillion debt, thereby holding the entire country to ransom with their bad behaviour.
Osinbajo was quoted in a statement issued by AMCON, as disclosing a plan by the government to set up an inter-agency collaboration framework that would comprise relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and supervised by his office to ensure that institutions and individuals that are indebted to AMCON are not allowed to do business with the government henceforth.
The vice president who spoke when he received some board members and management of AMCON at the State House, Abuja, led by the Board Chairman, Dr. Muiz Banire, said the federal government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, would no longer fold its hands and allow a few individuals that owe AMCON huge sums of money to walk freely on the streets in the country.
“I think the time has come for us (federal government) to set some examples with some of these top debtors of AMCON, which I believe will set a good example and serve as deterrent to others,” he said.
According to the statement, Osinbajo was impressed with the performance of the executive management of AMCON under the leadership of Ahmed Kuru, over the recovery successes that had been achieved so far against all odds and promised that the federal government would give the agency whatever support necessary to enable them go after the obligors that have remained recalcitrant despite the olive branch extended to them over the years by the recovery agency of the government.
“I congratulate AMCON for the work done so far having recovered over N1trillion and counting both in cash and in assets. The work you do as a recovery agency is not something that is particularly easy or encouraging because we all know how Nigeria works.
“But we are committed to working more closely with your administration to ensure that these monies are recovered from AMCON obligors because it will help our economy and provide the government with more money to continue to improve on the development of infrastructure across the nation,” the vice president explained.
Osinbajo said in the next couple of days, he would invite the AMCON team alongside other relevant MDAs to discuss and fine-tune plans on how to ensure that anybody or agency that is a debtor to AMCON is completely made to face the wrath of the law, adding that those indebted to the government are direct enemies of both the government and the people of Nigeria.