Senators from the Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions have expressed frustration and called for the dissolution of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria due to its failure to recover liabilities amounting to N5 trillion.

During a budget defense session on Wednesday, AMCON’s Managing Director, Ahmed Kuru, revealed that the corporation had only managed to recover about N648 billion out of its total liabilities as of September 20, 2023.

Several committee members criticized AMCON’s financial performance and called for its dissolution, citing perceived inefficiency in the recovery process.

Senators Sani Musa, Jimoh Ibrahim, Adamu Aliero, and Ifeanyi Ubah were among those who voiced concerns.

The chairman of the senate committee on finance, Senator Sani Musa, expressed dissatisfaction with AMCON’s handling of loans and assets, saying, “Most of the loans were owed by individual companies which were never sanctioned, and at the end of the day, the same company would go back to buy back their assets that AMCON had hitherto taken over. Are we going to continue like this?”

Ibrahim raised questions about AMCON’s financial losses, emphasizing, “Your total comprehensive profit and loss came into a loss of N145 billion. This calls for concern. Your net operating profit and loss is N126 billion. What is responsible for all these big losses?”

The committee’s chairman, Tokunbo Abiru, attempted to ease tensions and initially directed members to go into a closed-door session for further discussion.

After the closed-door session, Abiru addressed journalists, stating, “The committee has agreed that there is the need for a strong financial system stability; hence, agencies like AMCON are still desirable. The only challenge that we had today is that we need to have a definite time that all the obligations that are hanging on the throat of AMCON must be redeemed.”

Senator Abiru emphasized that the committee would continue to work with AMCON to devise a model for the corporation to wind down its obligations in the shortest time possible, ensuring its success while acknowledging its importance in maintaining financial stability.