The Chairman Senate Committee on Banking Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Uba Sani, has said that his committee and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) have identified the strategies being employed by debtors to stall the repayment of loans, including the dragging of court cases for many years.

Senator Uba Sani, in a statement over the weekend issued at the end of a retreat by his committee and AMCON, said: “the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has remained at the receiving end of these well laid and orchestrated acts of economic sabotage.”

Senator Uba Sani, who represents Kaduna Central said the Abuja retreat provided a window of opportunity for the committee and AMCON to brainstorm on key issues and concerns in maintaining the continued stability of the financial sector, particularly the banking industry.

He explained that the retreat also addressed the continued reduction of high rate of Non-performing Loans (NPLs) as well the challenges of AMCON, notably policies and procedures, implementation strategies and assets recovery during Covid-19 pandemic.

The lawmaker said that participants went the extra mile by taking “a critical look at how Covid-19 has impacted on AMCON and measures that must be put in place to reposition the strategic institution to effectively play its role in helping to stabilize the financial sector in Nigeria”.

The Senator revealed that the management of AMCON also made a passionate appeal to the National Assembly to evolve key legislative interventions to strengthen the institution and make assets recovery less cumbersome.

“AMCON expressed delight at the passage by the Senate of the Bill for an Act to Repeal the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and to Re-enact the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and Other Matters Connected Therewith, 2020. It strongly believes that the provision for a Loan/Credit Tribunal will assist AMCON in its loans recovery efforts”, the lawmaker indicated.

The Senator noted that the retreat came up with actionable recommendations, which , if strengthened, will further enhance the efforts of AMCON, thereby propelling the nation’s economic revitalization.