BY PETER EGWUATU
The Federal Ministry of Finance has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, to take over the affairs of National Economic Reconstruction Fund, NERFUND.

The ministry in a circular, said the decision to take over the management and control of the Fund followed President Goodluck Jonathan’s approval of the recommendations of the CBN and NDIC Joint Special Examination report on the books and affairs of the Fund.

According to the report, the capital invested in the institution by the Ministry of Finance had been completely eroded with gross losses which stood at N5.7 billion. The Fund, the report added, had not been able to service loans taken for on-lending from the African Development Bank, ADB, the Ministry of Finance and other sources.

The new management team appointed by the Ministry of Finance is headed by Mr. Muhammad Gidado Kollere of the NDIC as Managing Director/CEO and Mr. Ihua Elenwor of the CBN as Executive Director (Operations).

The team which is to oversee the affairs of the institution for an initial period of one year is also mandated to, among other things, mount an aggressive recovery of all outstanding loans, overhaul the Fund’s records, reconcile all accounts with correspondent banks and render quarterly report to the Board of the Fund, headed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance.

NERFUND was established by Decree No. 2 of 1989 to act as a catalyst towards the stimulation of the rapid rise of real production enterprises in the country. The NERFUND was specifically mandated to provide long/medium term loans to entrepreneurs through commercial/merchant banks for industrial growth of Nigeria.