The Senate on Thursday passed into law the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act, 2010 Amendment Bill.
The bill is meant to remove certain ambiguities from the Act that impede AMCON in the discharge of its mandate.
Specifically, the bill seeks to amend Sections 2(3), 16(5), 34(1), 34 (2), 35, 46(2), 48, 60, 61 and 62 of the AMCON Act.
Presenting the report on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Bassey Otu, said the passage of the bill would not only correct the defects in the extant Act but also strengthen the banking system for enhanced performance.
This, he said, would strengthen AMCON’s operations and serve the statutory purpose for which it was created.
Otu said, “It will also enhance AMCON’s management of acquired assets in order to obtain best financial returns thereby keeping the fiscal cost to the government at the barest minimum.
“Future banking resolution cost, which may result from operational and financial mismanagement by the Deposit Money Banks, will not be borne by the Nigerian tax payers; but instead by the banks, with money from the fund.
“There is expectation from operators of the financial sector that the establishment of the Banking Sector Resolution Cost Fund will enhance financial system stability and boost confidence.”
He said it would also act as a physical buffer by providing a ready source of assets that could be used to meet the cost of future bank failures without any recourse to the use of public funds.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, said the commitment of the Senate to the passage of the bill was to sustain a stable economic system.
“We finally fine-tuned the AMCON bill to make it more operational and to add value to the work they are doing. We believe we have covered all the lapses existing in the current AMCON bill with this amendment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday passed into law the new Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority Act, which exempts the operators from paying taxes.
The bill was entitled: ‘The Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority Act Cap 05, LFN 2011 (Amendment) Bill, 2015’.
By the passage of the bill, the Senate has also approved that the appointment of the board chairman must reflect federal character as provided in the 1999 Constitution.
The amendment made it mandatory for the appointment of the chairman and members of the board to be subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The Chairman of the Joint Senate Committee on Trade and Establishment and Public Service, Senator Odion Ugbesia, said the most attractive feature of a free trade zone anywhere in the world was the tax holiday.
No comments:
Post a Comment