About N11.50 billion has been paid to financial institutions, the Managing Director and Chief Executive, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim, has revealed.
The payment, he said, were made to depositors, creditors, shareholders and other stakeholders of closed financial institutions in December, 2017.
Ibrahim stated these during the NDIC Special Day at the Abuja International Trade Fair with the theme: ‘Enhancing SMEs in Agribusiness through innovative technology’, in partnership with the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), in Abuja, on Tuesday.
Represented by Director of Enterprise Risk Management, NDIC, Mr. Peter Hyelamzha, he said the corporation had made a 100 per cent and final liquidation dividends to depositors of the defunct Eagle and Financial Merchant Banks (in-liquidation) which increased the number of banks for which a final dividend of 100 per cent had been declared to 16 in 2017.
He stated that the corporation, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an on-site and off-site supervisions of 25 Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and one Non-Interest bank (NIBs).
The supervision, he said, was extended to 1,008 Micro Finance banks (MFBs) and 38 Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) using the Risk Based Supervision (RBS) approach and Consolidated Risk Based Examination of three banks with Holding companies in a bid to ensure financial system stability in the country.
He said: “The Corporation continued to make strenuous efforts in its debt recovery drive even in the face of all odds. Total recoveries from debtors of failed banks by the NDIC in 2017 amounted to N368.43 million which brought cumulative recovery from debtors to N28.84 billion.
“Similarly, the sum of N207.45 million was realized from the disposal of physical assets of closed banks. Thus, the cumulative sum of N21.85 billion was realized from the disposal of physical assets of closed banks as at 31st December, 2017. The funds realized was used to pay liquidation dividends to the uninsured depositors of closed banks.”
“Presently each depositor of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Non Interest Banks (NIBs) and Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) is insured up to the maximum limit of N500, 000; while the maximum insured coverage for depositors of Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) is N200, 000.
“However it is important to also stress that depositors who have funds in excess of the insured limits are paid dividends from the liquidation of failed banks depending on the quality of their assets and the outcome of debt recoveries by the Corporation.
“Apart from the DMBs, PMBs and MFBs, the Corporation also provides Deposit Insurance coverage to subscribers of Mobile Money Operators to the maximum limit of N500,000 through the Pass-Through Deposit Insurance Framework in its drive to promote financial inclusion across the broad spectrum of the economy. This followed the licensing of 21 MMOs by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he said.
He further added that: “In order to increase the level of financial inclusion among the 40.1 million Nigerians outside the formal financial system, the NDIC, as a member of the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC), is proactively implementing the National Financial Inclusion Strategy by adopting various public awareness activities such as World Savings Day, promotion of financial literacy among youths in secondary schools, TV and Radio jingles, annual workshop for Business Editors and Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria etc.”
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ACCI, Chief Emeka Obegolu, said, “The theme of this year’s trade fair is crafted in pursuant of the Federal Government vision of diversifying our economy from being a mono economy and total dependence on oil to other sectors, most especially the agro business.”
