The Senate has frowned at a N145 billion naira by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the huge liabilities confronting the agency.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions expressed their dissatisfaction on Wednesday when they met with AMCON Managing Director, Ahmed Kuru, who led top officials of the agency to the Senate to present his 2023 financial records as well as defend the 2024 budget estimates.
They lamented the loss of 145 billion naira recorded by the agency within 12 months, a development which members of the committee unanimously described as gravely concerning.
A member of the committee, Senator Sani Musa, stated that AMCON is saddled with the statutory responsibility amongst others, of recovering the non-performing loans, disbursed by banks to their customers was not aggressive enough in its loan recovery drives.
According to him, it is not enough to defend the budget but it is also important to see the effect of Appropriation, as he wondered about the possibility of scrapping AMCON.
By the same token, another member of the panel, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, lamented the huge losses suffered by the asset recovery agency in the outgoing fiscal year, described as concerning the agency’s total profit and loss of N145 billion.
The panel subsequently dissolved into a closed session after attempts by the Chairman to quell dissenting voices.
The committee agreed on the need for a strong financial system, declaring AMCON as viable.
