Economy

Apprehension as AMCON Prepares to Shame N5trn Debtors on TV

Published

7 years ago

28/07/2019

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has announced its intention to release very soon a television documentary on prominent Nigerians who owe the larger part of a N5 trillion debt, stating that the debtors are top public office holders in the country.

This was reportedly disclosed by the corporation’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ahmed Kuru, who was a guest speaker at the July 2019 edition of the breakfast meeting organized by the Nigerian–American Chamber of Commerce.

According to the AMCON boss, a major source of concern is that only 350 Nigerians owe 80 percent of the N5 trillion debt.

Speaking further, Mr Kuru disclosed that the agency was partnering with other agencies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC), amongst others, to produce a full-length television documentary on the recalcitrant debtors in a permanent format.

The AMCON boss stated that the plan included making the documentary in a permanent format available for future generations yet unborn to get informed of the so-called public office holders which are inclusive of lawmakers, ministers, university pro-chancellors and prominent Nigerians.

“Sadly, these are the calibre of people we respect in Nigeria but these people are not role models. How can you be a role model when you cannot honour a simple obligation? That is why I have been consistent in the call for the return of the failed bank act.

“All economies all over the world depend on financial infrastructure for growth. If we allow or encourage the destruction of the basis of our financial structure, then the economy would not grow.

“These are men and women who go to banks, borrow monies with no intention to pay and in the process bring down banking institutions. It takes a lot for a bank to fail. AMCON just rescued Skye Bank with an investment of nearly N1trillion. In a decent society, those who are responsible are supposed to be held accountable,” he said.

Mr Kuru further stated that the debt cannot be written off because the money could be used for infrastructural development in the country.

At the event, he also revealed how the corporation rescued Skye Bank with an investment of N1 trillion as a result of high non-performing loans.

“We are talking about recovering over N5 trillion debt, which sits with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and we know that the Federal Government through the CBN cannot afford to write the debt off so we just have to recover it.

“With such a huge recovery, the country can do a lot in the areas of infrastructure development in energy, rail line, health, road construction, and a whole lot more. To enable you to understand the magnitude of what we are talking about, only 350 individuals account for 80 percent of the debt amounting to N4.6 trillion.

“At AMCON, we have no power to arrest these ‘powerful’ people as we depend largely on judicial processes to recover and we all know the slow pace of judicial processes.

“Already, we have changed our strategy to more of enforcement, because the negotiations have failed. We now want to go a step further by working with the ICPC and the EFCC, which will enable us to go investigate the credit processes,” the nation’s chief debt collector said.

AMCON has said if the debt was not recovered, Nigeria’s financial sector may be heading towards another era of high non-performing loans which is not good for the economy.

Economy

Senate Pushes for Ban on Textile Imports

Published

6 minutes ago

10/06/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

To revive the local industry and create jobs to boost the economy, the Senate has advised the federal government to ban textile imports.

The upper chamber of the federal parliament made this suggestion on Tuesday at the plenary presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Mr Jibrin Barau.

They noted that to resuscitate textile industries in the country, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture should immediately implement investment-friendly policies.

The red chamber of the National Assembly recalled when Nigeria used to have a vibrant textile industry, but lamented that the influx of foreign fabrics destroyed the sector.

The Senate emphasised that to stimulate economic growth and tackle insecurity in the country, there must be a total ban on the importation of textile materials into Nigeria.

“With the lifting of the ban on textile importation in 2010, Nigeria now has almost 80 per cent of its textiles imported from China, Indonesia, Taiwan and other countries.

“This trend is definitely not helping the Nigerian economy in terms of employment generation and the conservation of foreign exchange,” Mr Katung Marshall, who co-sponsored a motion on the Urgent Need to Revive the Textile Industries in Nigeria, said on the floor of the Senate yesterday.

The Senator informed his colleagues that the government protection policies in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the restrictions on textile imports, attracted investors and helped the sector to flourish.

According to him, during the period, Nigeria’s textile industry accommodated about 167 mills and directly employed over 500,000 people, making it the nation’s second-largest employer after the federal government.

But he said this went south in the late 1990s due to obsolete machinery, inadequate capital and persistent power supply challenges, adding that by 2007, major companies, including Kaduna Textile Limited, Arewa Textiles and United Nigerian Textiles Limited, had shut down operations, leading to the loss of over 7,000 jobs.

Economy

FrieslandCampina, Nitrox, Others Further Weaken NASD Index by 0.48%

Published

2 hours ago

10/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Six securities led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc further weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.48 per cent on Tuesday, June 9.

The notable dairy firm lost N7.87 during the trading day to close at N173.81 per unit compared with the previous session’s N181.68 per unit, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc depreciated by N2.42 to N21.88 per share from N24.30 per share, Afriland Properties Plc dipped by N1.25 to N15.55 per unit from N16.80 per unit, Food Concepts Plc stumbled by 27 Kobo to N2.48 per share from N2.75 per share, UBN Property Plc dropped 9 Kobo to settle at N2.11 per unit versus N2.20 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc crashed by 4 Kobo to 50 Kobo per share from 54 Kobo per share.

As a result of these losses, the market capitalisation went down by N12.50 billion to N2.593 trillion from N2.606 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 20.89 points to 4,335.31 points from 4,356.20 points.

Business Post reports that there was a price gainer yesterday, and this was Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which improved its value by N2.65 to N81.13 per unit from N78.48 per unit.

The volume of transactions soared on Tuesday by 644.3 per cent to 1.6 million units from 213,188 units, the value of trades increased by 208.6 per cent to N62.3 million from N20.2 million, and the number of deals surged by 64 per cent to 41 deals from 25 deals.

The most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis remained Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 65.1 million units sold for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.

Economy

Naira Appreciates to N1,360.55/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

10/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was exchanged at N1,360.55/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, June 9, compared with the N1,362.84/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier, indicating an appreciation of N2.29 or 0.17 per cent against the United States Dollar.

It also gained 74 Kobo against the Euro in the same market segment to quote at N1,573.61/€1, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N1,574.35/€1, but lost N1.71 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,823.00/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,821.29/£1.

At the black market window, the Nigerian currency maintained stability against the greenback during the session at N1,380/$1, and also traded flat at the GTBank FX counter at N1,373/$1.

Market analysts say the ongoing implementation of the fourth edition of the Foreign Exchange Manual by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) since June 1 has strengthened the Naira and the country’s foreign reserves, bolstering confidence in the market.

The new manual is expected to deepen FX transparency, improve liquidity and strengthen market confidence and liquidity, as it aligns with the apex bank’s broader vision of ensuring that businesses and individuals have equal access to FX in a transparent and liquid market.

The gross external reserves have climbed to a record $50.04 billion, reinforcing investor confidence and boosting the CBN’s capacity to support the local currency.

As for the cryptocurrency market, expectations for higher interest rates sapped demand for non-yielding assets. The latest crypto pullback appears driven by a short squeeze rather than fresh buying, as more than $500 million in bearish bets were liquidated and spot demand.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.5 per cent to $0.1603, Ripple (XRP) declined by 5.2 per cent to $1.11, Solana (SOL) fell by 4.6 per cent to $64.05, Ethereum (ETH) tumbled by 3.5 per cent to $1,626.51, Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 3.6 per cent to $0.0835, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 3.2 per cent to trade at $61,292.98, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.9 per cent to $585.26, and TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.9 per cent to $0.3220, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $0.9997 and $0.9998, respectively.