By Esther Olaoluwa |
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has begun paying depositors of 46 microfinance banks whose operating licences were recently revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The NDIC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oludare Sunday, disclosed this on Wednesday during a retreat for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters in Lagos.
Sunday said the payments began after the CBN revoked the licences of the affected microfinance banks and appointed the NDIC as their provisional liquidator.
“We have started paying depositors of those banks, and gradually we intend to cover all the insured depositors,” he said.
NDIC Recovers Loans, Assets of Failed Banks
Sunday explained that the Corporation’s responsibility goes beyond paying insured deposits.
He said the NDIC had also started recovering outstanding loans owed to the failed institutions and disposing of their assets to generate funds for depositors whose balances exceed the insured limit.
“Our function as liquidator involves the payment of guaranteed sums. Thereafter, we go after those who owe the institutions and have not paid,” Sunday said.
He added that the Corporation was working to realise the assets and investments of the affected institutions to support the payment of the uninsured portion of deposits.
The NDIC boss did not disclose the exact number of depositors of the 46 microfinance banks who had received payments so far.
He said the Corporation was working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to identify depositors through their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and facilitate the reimbursement process.
“So, the more accounts we discover, the more payments we make,” he said.
700,000 Heritage Bank Depositors Paid
Sunday also provided an update on the liquidation of the defunct Heritage Bank, saying about 700,000 depositors had received their insured deposits.
He said the Corporation was still working to trace other customers whose identities could not be verified from available records.
According to him, some of the challenges were linked to legacy accounts created before the introduction of BVN and incomplete customer information inherited from banks that later became part of Heritage Bank.
He explained that Heritage Bank was formed from the consolidation of several financial institutions, including Enterprise Bank, which had links to institutions such as Guardian Express and Spring Bank.
Sunday urged customers whose accounts could not be traced to come forward so their identities could be verified and their payments processed.
He said the NDIC would continue recovering outstanding loans and disposing of Heritage Bank’s assets to generate funds for the payment of liquidation dividends to depositors whose balances exceeded the insured limit.
NDIC Says Over 98% of Depositors Are Protected
Earlier, Sunday described the NDIC as a key pillar of Nigeria’s financial safety net and called for stronger collaboration between regulators and the National Assembly.
He said such collaboration was important as the banking sector responds to recapitalisation efforts and the rapid growth of financial technology.
According to him, the banking recapitalisation programme has strengthened the resilience of financial institutions but must be supported by sound corporate governance, effective risk management, regulatory compliance and effective supervision.
Sunday said more than 98 per cent of depositors, representing over 281 million accounts across insured financial institutions, are fully protected under the NDIC’s deposit insurance scheme.
The Corporation said its ongoing payments to depositors of failed financial institutions, alongside the recovery and disposal of their assets, remain part of efforts to protect depositors and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s financial system.
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