By Babajide Komolafe
MANAGING Director/ Chief Executive, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim, has said that the proposed amendments to the Corporation’s enabling act will help to solve the various challenges to deposit insurance in the country.
He stated this in his keynote address at the just concluded annual workshop for finance correspondents and business editors organised by the NDIC, in Yola, Adamawa State.
He noted that while the corporation has recorded some progress in its role as a deposit insurer, it is however still faced with some challenges.
These challenges he said include lack of enforcement powers, protracted litigation initiated by owners of closed banks; recovery of debts owed failed banks, amongst others.
Some of the solutions to these challenges, he stressed, “are contained in our proposed amendment to the NDIC Act, 2006.”
He, however, said that the corporation remains undaunted and committed to achieving its aspiration to become one of the best deposit insurers in the world.
He said: “While there is still much work to be done in our aspiration to become one of the best deposit insurers in the world, but, considering how far we have come since 1989, we can say that the progress we have recorded so far has been gratifying and worthy of celebrating.
“With the articulation and adoption of appropriate policies and strategies, the board, management and staff are committed to the objectives of the corporation and are fully resolved to ensure that the NDIC effectively fulfils its statutory mandate.”
Speaking further, Ibrahim reiterated the importance of the annual workshop and the rationale of the theme for 2019 edition.
He said: “The annual NDIC FICAN workshops have emerged as a veritable platform, not only for capacity building, but also for the fostering of the much needed understanding and collaboration between us.
“It is to this end that we will not rest on our oars towards sustaining the relevance of the workshop through the choice of robust and informed topics and highly qualified resource persons. After all, the entire banking landscape has remarkably changed since the time the Corporation was established.
NDIC pays N11.3bn as insured deposits in 30yrs(Opens in a new browser tab)
“It was in recognition of what the future is likely to portend for the banking industry that for this year’s workshop theme “Nigeria Banking System Stability – Tackling Emerging Issues” was hinged. With the recourse to technology and Fintechs, the entire dynamics of banking has been altered to such an extent that it poses serious challenges for both operators and regulators.”
