AMCON Needs Judges’ Support to Recover Nigeria’s Assets’


As a way of helping to navigate the country out of the current recession, a two-time former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Godwin Agabi has called on judges in the country, especially those handling cases concerning the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and its debtors, to pile pressure on the obligors to repay the huge debts, which he said was capable of revitalising the economy if recovered.

A statement quoted Agabi to have made this call when he spoke at the recent Judges’  Forum of the Federal High Court in Abuja. He also commended the federal government for creating AMCON in 2010, saying that the country’s economy would have been worse than it is presently, if the corporation was not established.


Insisting that the judiciary is the only arm of government that has the capacity to expand its powers to save a nation,  Agabi noted that the success and survival of AMCON so far was due to the hard work of the judges and the justice system because the law is what the judge says it is. According to him, if that is the case, then it is the judges that rule the nations and run the societies. 

“If AMCON vs a debtor case comes before your Lordships, please I urge you to decide it decisively. It is a case of one man owing another man so it should not be difficult for you to decide. But then you cannot deliver as a judge if you are lacking in confidence.”
He also reminded the judges not to expect that everybody would be happy with their decisions or judgments of the cases. 

He added: “In your decisions those it did not favour (the debtors) will persecute you but you must bear it because you are serving the nation. It is in our collective interest that the country is restructured and our economy stabilised. But in arriving at your decisions, I want you to know that the success or failure of the management and staff of AMCON primarily resides with your Lordships and Judges, which means you need the fear of God, must consider national interest and exhibit professionalism in your decisions.”

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