FG raises panel to recover N5tn AMCON debts

The Federal Government has raised a task force to recover the outstanding N5 trillion debts owed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s office said on Tuesday.

Osinbajo was said to have made the disclosure during a meeting he had with the Board of AMCON and some heads of Federal Government’s ministries and agencies at the State House in Abuja on Monday night.

The agencies represented at the meeting are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, and the Ministries of Justice and Transportation.

“To this effect, a special task force/committee comprising the heads of AMCON, the EFCC, the NFIU, the ICPC and the Ministry of Justice will be working to develop and implement new strategies that will ensure that the determination of the FG to recover the money is speedily achieved,” a statement by the VP’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, said.

On the task of the committee, Osinbajo was quoted as saying, “The key is collaboration. We need a small team comprising these agencies to look at the next steps that we need to take, especially the criminal aspect, forfeiture and all of that.”

The task force will be targeting the first 20 top debtors on AMCON’s list.

AMCON’s Chairman, Mr Muiz Banire, SAN, had earlier said that about 67 per cent of those owing the N5tn were just 20 individuals and entities.

He had stated that AMCON was “trying its best in its attempt to recover this through the civil judicial process, but had encountered several challenges.”