By Oscarline Onwuemenyi
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has dismissed the notion that it  shirk its  supervisory  role over the banks by not blowing the whistle on the  malpractice  that led to the problem of non-performing loan in the industry.

The Managing Director of the Corporation said in Kaduna , “The Corporation could not raise the alarm on the infractions within the banking system, since that was not essentially its job. Speaking at the annual workshop for Finance Correspondents organized by the Corporation, Ogunleye said, “The NDIC could not have been expected to play the role of a whistle-blower since that would infer a negation of our role, which is the strict and effective supervision of banks.

“Being a whistle-blower means that we only find out things and inform another agency to act. Our mandate is to  act upon any infractions that we notice when we monitor the activities of financial institutions, and we have done this as professionally as we can.”  He also denied that the laws establishing the Corporation were inadequate, adding that the supervisory activity in the banking industry was dynamic and hence  there is  need for the laws to evolve to match developments in the industry.

According to him, “It is a dynamic situation we are dealing with, and changes occur regularly. However, based on our interactions with the National Assembly, the Senate has realised that the NDIC needs to be given more powers to enable us act more effectively.”

Ogunleye noted that there was need to enhance the regulatory infrastructure in the industry to enable it “deal with whatever issues that come up and people who infringe the laws would be punished to deter others from doing the same.”

The NDIC boss further stressed that bank management was risk management, noting that there was need for regulators to focus more on risk management by banks for early detection of systemic risks and proactive response to same.

“It was in this context that the joint CBN/NDIC Special Examination revealed weak corporate governance, insider abuses, dissipation of depositors’ fund, undisclosed large credit exposures to related entities as well as poor risk management,” he said.

The subsequent regulatory intervention in eight of the 24 banks, he added, underscored the need for professionalism and sound ethical practices in the banking system.