The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria is set to publish the names of 7,912 debtors owing it a total of N4.4trillion after the expiration of a 30-day ultimatum given by the National Assembly to debtors to regularise their debt status with the bad debt manager.
Speaking with NEWSMEN on Tuesday, AMCON said the agency had no choice but to obey the directive of the National Assembly asking it to publish the names of debtors who have refused to repay their loans.The spokesperson for AMCON, Jude Nwauzor, said debtors who were yet to provide a repayment proposal risked having their details published in the media after the 30-day grace period given by the National Assembly.He said, “AMCON has taken the decision to publish already. The decision has been taken already. It is a directive from the National Assembly. As a responsible corporate citizen, this was why we published an advertorial to warn all the entities concerned that their names will be published at the expiration of the ultimatum. The one month grace period will be expiring on January 5, 2021.”AMCON announced that out of a total of 12,743 non-performing loans inherited by the agency, 4, 831 debtors had settled their indebtednesses, leaving a total of 7,912 outstanding debtors.
It also disclosed that it would be publishing the names of 7,912 debtors owing the agency N4.4tn at the expiration of the deadline.On why the agency would go ahead to publish the names of the debtors, Nwauzor said, “If you recall that before we went for the Christmas holiday, the National Assembly asked us to publish a list of debtors.“However, the management of AMCON felt that to avoid a situation whereby people would say we took them by surprise, there was a need to do an advertorial.“That was why we put adverts to warn that after the expiration of the deadline, the names would be published. We bought 12,743 loans, but as of now, about 4,831 have been resolved. The outstanding is now 7,912. These outstanding debtors are owing us N4.4trillion.”AMCON, it was learnt, had finalised arrangements to publish the complete list of individuals, and institutions on its non-performing loans portfolio in the national dailies.”