The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said on Saturday that it has paid more than N1.7 billion in claims to insured depositors of failed institutions from recovered debts.
Bello Hassan, managing director and chief executive, disclosed this at its 2023 Editors’ Forum in Lagos.
He said the corporation invigorated its recovery efforts, which led to a substantial recovery of debt from banks in liquidation. “That is why we were able to declare liquidation dividends for those banks,” he said.
Hassan said, “Sometimes early in May 2023, we advertised that we wanted to pay liquidation dividends to depositors, creditors in some institutions that are in liquidation, and even shareholders.
“We have successfully recovered a lot. We invigorated the processes by visiting customers that own these banks, and also through the sensitization we had with our lawyers that are representing us, we were able to win those cases, which led to the recovery of those debts.”
He called on customers who have no Bank Verification Number (BVN) attached to their accounts, particularly those of microfinance banks, to reach out to NDIC at its offices across the six geopolitical zones so that they can get verified and “so that we can pay them the insured amount.”
The NDIC CEO said the Editors Forum serves as a consolidation of the corporation’s ongoing efforts to deepen close and cordial relationships with the leadership of the media industry, ensuring that they continue to work as partners in progress for the successful implementation of the deposit insurance system in Nigeria, for the benefit of the people.
According to him, the Deposit Insurance System implemented by the NDIC is an important component of the nation’s financial safety net. The corporation’s operations, which focus on minimising bank runs and bank failures through strict banking supervision, reimbursement of insured depositors in the event of bank failure, and orderly liquidation of failed banks, complement the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria to achieve a secure and stable banking system.
“In complementing the consumer protection efforts of the CBN, we have enhanced public awareness on deposit insurance and financial literacy to reduce the rate at which small depositors are being defrauded, thereby enhancing confidence in the banking system;
“We have invigorated our liquidation activities and greatly increased the debt recovery rate, leading to the declaration of 100 percent liquidation dividends to uninsured depositors of over 20 deposit money banks in liquidation as well as payments to other stakeholders such as creditors, ex-staff, and shareholders; and we have also improved our system, process, and procedures to promote transparency and accountability in our operations, amongst other humble achievements,” he said.
He said the NDIC has enhanced collaboration with the bar and bench, leading to speedy prosecution and more informed judgements on failed bank cases, including the resolution of long-drawn cases of closed banks such as Fortune and Triumph Banks in liquidation.
“We have equally put in place a policy and framework for out-of-court settlement, which has enabled us to resolve some hitherto protracted failed bank litigations,” he said.
