Shareholders demand FG winds up AMCON over soaring N436.5bn bank levy

BY MOTOLANI OSENI

Shareholders have called on the Federal Government to shut down the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), following the N436.5 billion levy paid by seven Nigerian banks in 2024 as part of the sector’s resolution cost.

Figures from the audited financial statements of the banks, posted on the Nigerian Exchange Group platform, show the combined levy payments surged by 158 per cent from N276 billion in 2023 to N436.5 billion in 2024.

Access Holdings led the pack with N112.23 billion, up from N68.8 billion in 2023, followed by Zenith Bank, which paid N92.2 billion, and UBA Plc, which contributed N71.91 billion compared to N40.36 billion the previous year. First HoldCo paid N74.87 billion, Fidelity Bank N35.81 billion, GTCO Plc N36.66 billion, and Wema Bank N12.79 billion.

AMCON, created in 2010 to stabilise the banking sector by managing non-performing loans, charges banks an annual resolution levy of 0.5 per cent of their total assets and off-balance-sheet items, as mandated by its 2015 Act.

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But shareholders say the levy has become an unsustainable burden on banks and investors. National Coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, Mrs Bisi Bakare, said AMCON’s continued existence has outlived its usefulness and is now draining shareholders’ funds. She argued that the corporation has become a loophole for diverting investors’ money under the guise of debt recovery.

Also speaking, Mr Moses Igbrude, National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, criticised the levy as a disguised way of siphoning funds from the banking sector. He said AMCON had long exceeded its mandate and accused vested interests of manipulating the system to extend its lifespan.

According to him, AMCON’s inability to resolve the bad debt challenge in over a decade is proof that it has become a self-serving institution. Both shareholders insisted that the corporation should be wound up and the levy abolished to prevent further erosion of banks’ earnings and shareholder value.