AMCON Plans Sale of Arik, Aero, PAN, Others in 2018

Obinna Chima

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has indicated plans to sell some of its assets in 2018, which it listed to include Arik Air, Aero Contractors, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Delta Queen, among others.

Owing to the planned sale of the assets, AMCON which recently released its 2017 financial statement, pointed out that its “2018 financial year may be a very busy year for AMCON as a result of the proposed disposal of these lead assets”.

A statement from the corporation quoted its chief executive, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, to have said AMCON was in the process of dealing decisively with the top assets in its portfolio.

He also said the corporation has stepped up its recovery drive in line with its fast approaching sunset.

AMCON recently disclosed that as at December 2017, it had recovered a total of N740 billion, just as the corporation’s 2017 results had shown that its loss position reduced significantly by 90 per cent to N16.41 billion in 2017, compared with the N164.94 billion recorded the previous year.

But the statement quoted Kuru as saying: “I want Nigerians to understand that our assignment at AMCON is not just tough but a daunting challenge. I think people need to pity us because we are at that stage in the life of the corporation where we are dealing with the hardcore because the low hanging fruits have been dealt with earlier in the life of AMCON.

“I want you to understand that we are sitting on a substantial amount of assets, which we must one way or the other resolve on or before our sunset, which is around 2023/24.”

He insisted that AMCON played strategic role in rebuilding the Nigerian economy with the recapitalisation of the banks, which he said preventing systemic collapse of the economy. He said it would have been unimaginable what would have happened to the Nigerian economy if AMCON did not intervene at the time it did.

For that reason, he said, AMCON was determined to pursue every obligor in its book with all the powers the laws avail AMCON to deal with each and every one of them especially the 350 debtors of AMCON who account for almost 80 per cent of the over N5 trillion huge debt burden, which must be recovered because AMCON borrowed to purchase the Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs) during the first and second phases when it bought over the bad loans from the banks.

He continued: “Like I said earlier, we will deal with some of those key assets very soon like the Peugeot Nigeria Limited in Kaduna, CDL, Aero Contractors, Arik Air and a host of others. But I must tell you, as we close in on these individuals and entities that owe us, I want you to know that they will call us names, they will blackmail us, they will threaten us, malign and harass us.

“However, I can tell you that hard as they will try, we will not be deterred in going about our normal duties as mandated by law. But as we do, we ask ourselves first if the action will stand right before God Almighty; secondly, will the action be in our national interest and, is our action within the rule of law. If the answer to these three guiding principles is yes, AMCON takes decisions. It is nothing personal.”