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Banks in Nigeria are healthy – NDIC

By on June 17, 2015

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Monday stated that banks operating in the country are healthy and are in line with global standard. It also said that it monitors activities of banks in the country.

The Deputy Director, Research, NDIC, Hashim Ahmad who made the disclosure in Minna during a sensitisation of members of the 2015 Batch A, Stream II, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the orientation camp, in Paiko, Niger state, said the Corporation undertakes proper supervision of the banks in the country as an insurer to ensure they remain healthy.
“Nigerian banks are relatively healthy in line with global standard. We don’t normally announce the healthy status of our banks in the public, but we normally say in aggregate and I think our annual report will soon be released and be made available to the public.”

“The annual report normally summarises the health status of the industry. We don’t particularly say Bank A or B is distressed. We are simply saying that on aggregate basis we will tell you the industry is this or that.

“We undertake supervision of the banks as insurer as you know, no insurer will sit back and allow his risk to crystalise before he wakes up. We are embarking on the supervision of banks to ensure they remain safe and sound,” he explained.

Hashim further stated that any bank that is identified as distressed or in difficulty is normally turned over to NDIC for management.

“In the cause of doing that, we take over the management and control of the bank. We can go to that extent. We manage the bank until such a time we think it is able to stand on its feet and then we hand it back to its owners,” he added.

Ahmad while speaking further said “NDIC as the sole liquidator of banks in Nigeria undertakes liquidation when all other avenue to resuscitate the purchase of the bank fails”.

Accordingly, he said: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will then revoke the licence and hand the bank over to NDIC for liquidation widening off of the affairs of the Bank.”

Responding to enquiries on when the defunct Savannah Bank will return to business, Ahmad said: “We expect the bank to bounce bank soonest because it has been handed over to the owners. At our own end (NDIC), we can only act and exercise our own mandate when a licence is revoked by the CBN.

“As Savannah Bank stands, the licence has been restored by the CBN and there is nothing NDIC can do in terms of paying off depositors, since their licence is back to them. And we can’t go and pay anybody.”

In a related development, the NDIC yesterday declared that despite the progress made in the financial sector in recent times, 65 per cent of Nigerians still don’t have access to banking.

The North-east Zonal Controller of the Corporation, Mr. Sabo Gidado who disclosed this in Jalingo yesterday, stated that the vast majority of the unbanked population are largely rural dwellers and people with low and irregular income.

Gidado, who also delivered a sensitisation and awareness lecture to the Adamawa State 2015 Batch ‘A’ stream II corps members who are undergoing orientation programme in Jalingo said the figure was the outcome  of a research conducted by Enhanced Financial inclusion and Access, EFiNA, an organisation committed to reducing unbanked population in Nigeria.

Besides being a rural dweller and a low or irregular income earner, the NDIC coordinator stated further that unemployment and location of banks in most rural areas, were other contributory factor to the high rate of unbanked population in the country.

Stressing the need for the NYSC members to embrace banking and take advantage of the various products offered by financial institutions, Gidado assured them that their money would be safer in the banks.

He further assured the NYSC members that with the establishment of NDIC, a customer’s money is safe and in case of bank failure, the Corporation guarantees the payment of customers deposits up to a maximum amount within 90 days.

Meanwhile, the CBN has disclosed that 2,113 graduates of its Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) had accessed loans valued at N195.348 million to start their own businesses as at October 2014.

The Branch Manager, CBN, Jalingo, Mr. M.S. Abdullahi who revealed this while addressing the NYSC members further disclosed that as at October 2014, total of 5,243 jobs were created through the EDC which was launched in 2005.

 

[ThisDay]