By Nik Ogbulie
The management of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation(NDIC) has indicated that another tranche of payments would be made to Failed banks depositors soon as the institution has been able to vacate the court issues that temporarily affected the payments which it restarted about October last year.
In an interaction with a section of the media over the weekend, the corporation strongly indicated that payments will soon start within the year to settle the insured and liquidation dividends much of which were to have been concluded last year but for the unwarranted litigation demands which have finally been settled. The NDIC top management who were at the event regretted the delay but were at the same time happy that the issues have been put to rest and victims can now heave a sign of relief before the end of 2024.
The corporation noted that about eighteen episodes , most of which may have been caused by the unpaid depositors, the legal system and some unforeseen technical hitches, have been responsible for the delays. There are strong indications that only a minute proportion of the reasons for the delays could be attributed to the NDIC as could be confirmed from the detailed narrative made available to the editors.
According to NDIC, it’s explanations become expedient as depositors are largely unaware that their own actions or inactions have been part of the delay while the corporation observes the rules and regulations governing the engagement in the entire process which are highly technical and controversial in most cases.
It is of the opinion that depositors of the liquidated Fortune Bank Plc owned largely by Mr. McPepple, a prominent oil and gas sector contractor and managed by Mr Fidelis Tilije , currently Commissioner of Finance in Delta State, who completed their verifications with the corporation before the court holding action will now be paid as required. Last October, most of the Fortune bank depositors were paid different sums of money which they considered very timely and useful as they came some few weeks before 2023 Chrismas. It is also believed that the remaining depositors will smile home with huge amounts of money in line with the routine in the payment of such dividends.
The organisation which is about three decades and half, has been bugged by this huge burden which arose from the failure of about sixty five failed banks at various intervals up to the beginning of 2024. It could be revisited that several plans and processes have been adopted by the CBN, Ministry of Finance and the NDIC to mitigate the impact of bank failures to the economy and the depositors at large. It must be explained that apart from the 2008 global economic meltdown, banking sector failure in Nigeria remains the largest disaster that has impacted the economy and the citizens , to the extent that it’s effects have continued to reverberate at intervals. According to NDIC, this makes the repayments very imperative , even if it is coming very late as has earlier been promulgated by the CBN under Professor Soludo.
It must be recalled that the CBN had in 2004, while introducing the banking sector reforms, noted that no Failed bank depositor must lose his deposit in the process as every depisitor must be paid 90 days after the entire consolidation. The consolidation was fully consummated in the first quarter of 2006. About 20 years after consolidation, Nigerians are still waiting for their payment.
Our Economic Intelligence team is of the opinion that the CBN under Soludo may have under estimated the logistics of failed banks management and closure processes before making his statement which was considered as a stunt to shutdown the pockets of the reactionaries during the exercise. However. Soludo has not apologised to Nigerians for the Failed promise .
Few Nigerians we spoke with are happy with NDIC and have insisted that the planned payment has energised their belief in its efficacy as it could be the last hope of the very hungry and angry Nigerians who have been waiting for twenty years.
However, depositors who have infractions in the course of filling their online forms from NDIC may still have to suffer the situation of non payment as such infractions must be sorted out before payment. They may have to revisit their submissions for clarity before due-date.
It must be mentioned now that the optimism by the NDIC to close these payments does not eliminate the background challenges which may still exist and this may affect many from being paid as arranged.
