Billionaire debtors panic as AMCON set to release new list

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria is preparing to release another list of debtors, an investigation has revealed.

The corporation’s Head of Corporate Communications Department, Jude Nwauzo, confirmed this to our correspondent in a telephone chat.

According to information obtained, the corporation has decided to expose the debtors following their failure to meet their debt obligations after several peaceful engagements.

Nwauzo told our correspondent that AMCON would be forced to charge the debtors to court if they failed to repay their loans.

In October, AMCON published a list of defaulters that it termed as delinquent debtors. They allegedly owe about N906.1bn.

The publication exposed 105 of its top debtors, pursuant to its statutory mandate and in compliance with the circular issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria in April 2015.

Part of the publication read, “This has become necessary as all avenues provided by the corporation for the debtors to propose acceptable resolution terms have failed. Nevertheless, the corporation is still open to an amicable resolution of these debts within a reasonable time, failing which it shall continue to exercise all powers as provided by law to recover the debts.”

Among the alleged debtors were Capital Oil & Gas Limited, whose main promoter was listed as Mr IfeanyiUbah , which reportedly owed N115bn; Tinapa Business Resort, which is owned by the Cross River State Government and allegedly owes N36bn; and Geometric Power Limited being promoted by a former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, which owes N29.84bn, among others.

Based on a court order, he added that it would also take over the assets of the debtors if they failed to repay their loans.

AMCON is saddled with the statutory responsibility, among others, of recovering the non-performing loans hitherto disbursed by eligible financial institutions (banks) to their customers.

The corporation had said that despite numerous overtures and appeals to AMCON debtors to extinguish their indebtedness, it was concerned that certain debtors had wilfully maintained recalcitrant postures while also adopting unscrupulous means of avoiding recovery.

After several appeals and dialogues to resolve this indebtedness, it added that it would not relent in pursuing vehemently the achievement of its recovery mandate against erring debtors.

“AMCON has decided without further notice to publish in widely read daily newspapers specific and detailed list of all erring debtors, (and directors where applicable) that have failed and or refused to reach settlement resolution with the corporation,” it stated. Punch