The House of Representatives has passed for third reading, an amendment to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Act which empowers the corporation to trace and sell any property belonging to a bank debtor, including those not presented as security for the credit facility.
The House also approved that AMCON gets access to the special tribunal established by the Banks and Other Financial Institution Act for enforcement and recovery of eligible loans.
Also, the lawmakers reduced the tenure of the chief executive of the corporation from 10 years to five years, while the National Assembly will have the powers to extend the tenure by a maximum of five years.
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The bill, which was sent to the House for concurrence by the Senate, however, removed state High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory from the list of courts where the corporation could prosecute its cases.
The bill redefined ‘court’ in the Act to mean the Federal High Court, the Special Tribunal for Enforcement and Recovery of Eligible Loans and other superior courts exercising appellate jurisdiction over the Federal High Court and the Special Tribunal for Enforcement and Recovery of Eligible Loans.
Subsection (1)(b) also states, “Any certification of sale or certificate of transfer of title executed by the Corporation in exercise of its powers under subsection (1) (a) above shall constitute a valid registrable instrument under all applicable land registration laws applicable in the Federation and in all land and corporate registries in the federation.”
The House also amended Section 54 (1) and (2) of the Act on the commencement of Action at Special Tribunal.
It reads, “The corporation in exercise of its discretion may decide to commence debt recovery actions at the Special Tribunal for Enforcement & Recovery of Eligible Loans set up under the provisions of S.102 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (Amendment 2020) and the Rules and Practice Direction of the Tribunal shall apply in such proceedings commenced by the Corporation.” (Punch)
