The National Assembly will soon turn the heat on financial institutions’ serial and chronic debtors to force them to fulfill their obligations, the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions has indicated.

This followed the panel’s renewed commitment to build strategic collaborations that would develop greater capacity for debt recovery and sustained development in the country.

The committee chairman Rafiu Ibrahim, yesterday, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, warned that the time would soon run out on recalcitrant obligors of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

The lawmakers, at the three-day retreat in Uyo to deliberate on the best approaches to be adopted to help the challenged economy, commended AMCON management for its renewed drive towards recovery of the huge debts owed the Federal Government by few obligors.

Ibrahim stated that the gathering was timely because the entire hallowed upper legislative chamber was committed to helping in stabilising the nation’s prostrate economy.

“This retreat for the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions is in keeping with our commitment to build strategic collaborations in order to develop greater capacity for sustained development.

“It is my hope that we will fully achieve the objectives of this retreat, thereby strengthening the relationship between AMCON, this committee and indeed the entire hallowed upper legislative chamber.

“It is my expectation that at the end of the day, this committee will have identified new legislative support frameworks for AMCON where necessary, as well as more efficient ways to consolidate on already existing support legislations and frameworks so that AMCON can be strategically positioned to optimally perform its uniquely important responsibility of asset recovery and management, “Ibrahim added.

He assured that the Senate would no longer fold its arm and watch the economy destroyed by a few individuals that had turned themselves into monsters and economic terrorists.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, while describing the agency as a child of necessity in the development of Nigeria’s financial system, however, told the committee that AMCON at this critical time in its existence seriously needed to enlist the support of other critical stakeholders at the highest levels (like the Senate) in order to cover significant ground in the corporation’s recovery mandate.

According to Kuru, AMCON was seeking support and partnership of the upper legislative chamber because of the frustration from obligors most of whom were riding and leveraging the deficiencies in our institutions to hold AMCON and the nation to ransom.

“After more than six years of operation, all efforts to recover diligently have failed. We now have to resort to the Act setting up AMCON and head to the courts…Let me quickly add here that AMCON is not trying to unduly prejudice the views or positions of stakeholders, especially the judiciary.

“We are a responsible law-abiding organisation with respect for the rule of law. However, our campaign is intended to draw attention to the enormity of the challenges and potential threats, which the bad loans in our portfolio pose to the wider economy and the common man.

“We are mindful of time as AMCON is a corporation with a very short lifespan. Our sunset date is drawing nearer each day. In fact, other similar institutions around the world, like Malaysia have wound up their recovery vehicles. They are now focused on managing or turnaround of the assets taken over during the recovery phase, ” Kuru remarked.