The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has recovered and restructured 15 per cent or N417bn of the N3.14tn total non-performing loans acquired from 21 Deposit Money Banks in the country.

The Managing Director, AMCON, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, told our correspondent in a telephone interview on Monday that the corporation bought additional N360bn bad loans to join the N2.78tn it had earlier bought at the completion of the acquisition phase.

He said, “We have recovered and restructured a total of 15 per cent of the total non-performing loans we bought. We bought additional bad loans in the third phase. We had to compel certain banks, in consultation with AMCON and the Central Bank of Nigeria, to sell systemically important loans to AMCON to forestall any further crises in the future.

“Most notable among these are loans of Zenon Petroleum, Seawolf Industries and Geometric Power Industries.

The AMCON boss stressed that the bank debtors would be made to pay within the powers of AMCON.

“I have not had pressure from anybody. We will ensure that the debtors pay their loan. We have the powers to enforce that. However, every debtor is unique, we will see what we can do to help those who have genuine businesses, we are not a liquidating company; so, we are not out to kill any business,” he said.

Chike-Obi also pointed out that the 200 biggest loans accounted for 80 per cent of the total debts.

AMCON had ended the second phase of its programme in October, thereby moving to the third phase, which includes the management of all acquired assets.

A senior official of the corporation had told our correspondent that the asset management company moved to the third and final phase as planned in November after it bought over N2.78tn face value of non-performing loans from 21 banks at a cost of N1.16tn.

The source, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, had told our correspondent that the acquisition represented 95 per cent of all outstanding non-performing loans in the banking industry.

He added that AMCON now had representative shares in all the 24 banks in the country, pointing out that the corporation had commenced negotiations with the debtors.

Source: Punch/Ademola Alawiye