Lawyer Tells AMCON To Declare VIP Debtors Bankrupt – TheNigerialawyer

A legal consultant and Senior Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi-LP, Mr.
Muyiwa Balogun, has challenged the Asset Management Corporation of
Nigeria (AMCON) and Judges of the Federal High Court of Nigeria
(FHC) to leverage on the 2019 Amended AMCON Act and declare debtors
who are holding public office bankrupt.

The new 2019 Amended AMCON Act, which was signed into law by
President Muhammadu Buhari earlier in the year provided AMCON with
sweeping powers, which is intended to help AMCON recover a huge
debt of over N5.4trillion owed the corporation by obligors as a
result of AMCON intervention in the banking sector. AMCON was
created in 2010 as a result of the global economic crises of
2008/2009, which nearly cripples the financial sector of
Nigeria.

Without AMCON’s intervention at the time, depositors would have
lost N3.7trillion and over 15,000 jobs would have also been lost.
Recall that AMCON had purchased approximately 12, 743 loans from
the banks through debt instruments worth N3.9trillion with the
simple understanding of recovery either through voluntary payment
or disposal of assets of the obligors. The government at the time
had thought a strong law could as a matter of fact guarantee that,
hence the enactment of the AMCON Act in 2010.

But now that recovery is proving herculean to AMCON and have
become a source of pain to the Federal Government, Balogun, who
reviewed the new AMCON Act 2019 at a one day seminar for Judges of
the FHC in Abuja at the weekend argued that the only alternative to
the recovery challenge was for the judges of the FHC to take the
matter as a national assignment and explore all the powers of the
new amendment.

In attendance at the seminar were the Acting Chief Judge of the
Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, officials of the
National Judicial Institute (NJI), the management of AMCON and
officials of Legal Academy. Balogun said the Judges of the FHC,
which incidentally is AMCON’s court of first instance should as a
matter of fact support the corporation to explore the bankruptcy
proceedings as provided by the amendment, which he said will at
least make it possible for AMCON to rubbish its debtors that are
holding public office as persons of no integrity and so cannot hold
such office.

According to him, “Once you are declared bankrupt, you cannot
hold public office. Today, we have AMCON debtors making laws for
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. AMCON with your support needs to
go to court and declare such individuals bankrupt. Given the sunset
period of AMCON and the fact that the debt we are talking about is
the commonwealth of Nigeria, it would not be out of place to take
the full advantage of the bankruptcy power among other special
powers in the new amendment.”

The concerned lawyer who stated that the bankruptcy proceedings
have been explored in other climes to address similar matters
argued that there was no reason why it should not work in Nigeria.
Again, he said, “As a way of being proactive with the new amendment
of the AMCON Act, let us test the bankruptcy proceedings because it
will be effective. In other jurisdictions, this has proved to be a
very potent tool and why not in Nigeria,” he wondered.

Balogun further painted a gloomy picture of what could further
befall the already challenged Nigerian economy, if the debts were
not recovered in good time before the sunset period. He said if the
Federal High Court Judges and indeed the judiciary do not support
AMCON, the debt profile of the corporation can easily rise to a
whopping N6.6trillion by 2024 since AMCON still owed the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N4.5trillion just as it is still battling
with N1.7trillion of Assets Under Litigation (AUL).

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