BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU & EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

ABUJA—The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Monday pledged to pay the sum of N50 billion to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, to help the company function optimally.

The money which is known as Resolution Cost Fund otherwise called sinking fund is to be made annually.

At a public hearing organized by the Committee on Banking and Currency, the Director of Risk Management Department of CBN, Folakemi Falode who represented the CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi Lamido said that the apex bank fully supported the impending amendments in the Act.

The amendment which is contained in Sections 62 and 64 of the Act says: “The Resolution Cost Fund shall be tax neutral and accordingly, all monies accruing to, payments made from, and instruments and transactions relating to, the Resolution Cost Fund shall exempt from all forms of taxes, levies, duties, charges or impositions however described.”

It further says that in Section 62 (1): “On or before the first business day in each calendar year, starting from the 2014 calendar year and up to the end of the tenor, the Central Bank of Nigeria shall pay into the Resolution Cost Fund the sum of N50,000,000,000 or such higher sum as the Board of Central Bank of Nigeria may, from time to time determine.”

Details of payment on the Act of stated the sum, just as the amendment also provides in sub-section (2) the CBN will pay “from the general reserves or other funds of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and cause the sum so appropriated to be paid into the Resolution Cost Fund in immediately available funds.”

While declaring the hearing open, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal said that lawmakers was more concerned with people-oriented laws.

He underscored the importance of AMCON to financial public institutions in the country.

“ Although, it is the statutory duty of the National Assembly to make laws, we are obliged to do so after wide consultations so that our laws can gain greater public acceptability. This Hearing is therefore part of our efforts to bring democracy closer to the people and to ensure that our laws have the quality and integrity that are needed.

“As a responsible parliament, we must make every effort to pass the kind of laws that will engender the efficient management of our nation’s economy. We must continue to plug the loopholes that encourage waste and the misappropriation of public funds for private gain.

“As elected representatives of the people, our first duty is to protect the welfare of members of the Nigerian public. For too many years, innocent people have borne the major brunt of the failure of our financial institutions. Many have lost their entire life savings and the will to carry on as a result of the recklessness of the owners of these banks and other finance houses.