By Ibrahim HassanWuyo
The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Uba Sani has called for prayers for victims still in the hands of kidnappers, terrorists and bandits, saying his heart bleeds for them.
In a special Sallah message by the lawmaker, he expressed deep concern over the horrible situation of the abducted students of Greenfield University in Kaduna, Leah Sharibu and Chibok girls amongst other children under terrorists captivity.
“As we celebrate, let us spare a moment for our children who are still held captive by kidnappers, terrorists and bandits. My heart bleeds for the abducted students of Greenfield University, Kaduna, Leah Sharibu, the Chibok Girls and other children held captive across the country”, the lawmaker said.
Amidst disagreement, Senate passes bill empowering AMCON to seize assets not included as collateral
The bill seeks to empower AMCON to, amongst others, take possession, manage or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether or not such assets or property are used as security/collateral for obtaining the loan. 4 min read
The Senate has passed a bill that empowers the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to seize the assets of loan defualters that were not included as collateral when the loan was approved.
The Bill, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act, (Amendment Bill, 2021), was read for the third time and passed amid protest by some lawmakers, who pointed out a major controversial part of the legislation.
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The bill was passed during plenary on Wednesday following the consideration of a report by the senate committee on banking, insurance, and other financial institutions.
The bill, which is an act to amend the AMCON Act No.3, 2014 to extend the tenor of the resolution cost fund and for related matters 2021,
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The amendment bill passed by the chamber empowers AMCON to, amongst others, take possession, manage or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether or not such assets or property is used as security/collateral for obtaining the loan in particular.
It also empowers the corporation to access the special tribunal established by the BOFIA, 2020 for dealing with financial related matters.
The Senate has passed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Amendment Bill.
This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions at the plenary on Wednesday. x
Presenting the report, Sen. Uba Sani, Chairman of the Committee, said the committee engaged stakeholders including AMCON, Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) before arriving at its conclusion.
He said the stakeholders in their submissions suggested that AMCON be empowered to take possession, manage, sell, transfer, assign property used as security for eligible bank assets among others.
The Senate has extended the powers of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to enable it recover monies from bank debtors.
It has also empowered the agency to go after bank debtors and take over assets other than those used as collateral to recover their debts.
These new measures formed part of the amendments to the AMCON bill passed by the Senate during Wednesday’s plenary at the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.
They also give AMCON the power to approach credit tribunals to recover their funds, eliminating the bottlenecks often encountered in normal courts.
The special tribunal was established by the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020 to deal with financial-related matters.