ABUJA – The House of Representatives on Wednesday stopped an amendment of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Act.
The Act proposed a yearly payment of N50 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into the Resolution Cost Fund.
The proposed bill provides that the N50 billion should be paid “from time to time” as determined by the CBN board.
The contributory fund, also known as a ‘sinking fund’, was created by AMCON to bail out distressed banks and financial institutions.
However, the report of the house Committee on Banking and Currency on the amendment of the AMCON Act 2010, was considered and passed at plenary.
The lawmakers approved amendments to Sections 2, 16(5), 22(2), 34(1)-(2), 35, 46(2), 48, 57, 60 and 62 of the AMCON Act.
Opposing the amendment of Section 61(2), Reps. Sekonte Davies (PDP-Rivers) and Honourable Asita (PDP-Rivers), said that making the CBN to pay N50 billion yearly into the fund would encourage corruption in the banking sector.
“There is no provision showing how the money will be recovered.
“Are we saying that the Federal Government has become Father Christmas; we are creating room for massive corruption,’’ Davies said.
The Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, Rep. Jones Onyereri (PDP-Imo), however, stepped down the proposed amendment.
In the proposed sinking fund amendment, the CBN will contribute N50 billion while the banks contribute an amount equivalent to 0.3 per cent of its total assets. (NAN)
