Nume Ekeghe
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, has called for the enforcement of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Amendment Act 2019. He stated that a law cannot be effective if not enforced.
Justice Muhammad never faulted the Act, which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law on August 7, 2019, contrary to certain media reports recently.
Rather, the CJN, according to a statement, lent his voice to that of other well-meaning Nigerians in congratulating the management of AMCON, members of the National Assembly for their boldness in amending the Act, and all Nigerians who will ultimately be the beneficiaries of the amendment, should AMCON recover the huge indebtedness owed the corporation by its obligors through the instrumentality of the amended AMCON Act.
The CJN made these declarations when the AMCON CEO, Mr Ahmed Lawan Kuru, led a delegation of some senior officials of the corporation to the Supreme Court.
The visit was to officially present him (the CJN) with copies of the AMCON Amendment Act 2019.
The CJN, who personally received the AMCON chief executive and his team during the visit said, “We welcome you to the Supreme Court today and we are happy that you are here to give us a lot of information regarding the amendment of the AMCON Act. I am sure the amendment has enhanced the many activities of your operation…I am certainly sure of that.
“So, what now remains is for enforcement. The law may be there, but the difficulty may be in enforcement and especially in your own case where the debt is financially related, tied to properties and so on. So the task before you is not a small one, you have a lot of responsibilities and I am certainly sure that with the kind of personalities we have here, particularly with the leadership led by this gentleman that I have known for very long time, I am sure it will not be too much a difficult task for you to leverage the amended act to sanitise whatever was wrong before you people were appointed,” the CJN stated.
