The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria is facing significant challenges in recovering more than N4 trillion in outstanding debts and has called on the media to help hold debtors accountable.
AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Jude Nwauzor, made this appeal while addressing journalists in Ikeja on Friday, urging the press to play a proactive role in ensuring debtors meet their obligations.
“The media serves as the mirror of society, and its engagement can help expose high-profile debtors and compel them to fulfill their financial responsibilities,” Nwauzor stated.
Nwauzor emphasized that some debtors, despite owing billions to AMCON, continue to lead extravagant lifestyles, owning private jets and luxury properties. He asserted that media scrutiny could deter such individuals from evading their financial duties.
“We believe that when these obligors, who own some of the private jets you see at our airports, are challenged by the media, they will not be as bold and audacious as they have become,” he noted.
AMCON believes a stronger collaboration with the media will yield positive results for the country by putting pressure on debtors to meet their obligations.
According to Nwauzor, some debtors misused borrowed funds, complicating the recovery process. He highlighted the resistance AMCON faces from obligors who refuse to repay without a fight.
“The leadership of AMCON knows that there is no nice way of recovering debt. Obligors could go to any length to assassinate the characters of AMCON staff members and its management,” he said.
While acknowledging that many debtors had settled their obligations, he pointed out that others remained defiant, making recovery efforts difficult.
Nwauzor warned that if AMCON fails to recover the outstanding debts, the federal government would have to settle them using taxpayers’ money.
“If at sunset AMCON is unable to recover the huge debt of over N4 trillion, it becomes the debt of the Federal Government of Nigeria for which taxpayers’ money will be used to settle. The implication is that the general public will be made to pay for the recklessness of only a few individuals,” he stated.
He further stressed that these debtors have significantly harmed Nigeria’s economy and called for collective efforts to ensure financial accountability.
