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From Uche Usim, Abuja
To enable it to pay depositors of failed banks, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) is soliciting the support of the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to take over the landed properties of banks in liquidation in Abuja.
The Chairman of the NDIC Board of Directors, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, made this known during a courtesy visit by the Corporation’s Board and Management to the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Musa Bello, in Abuja.
According to her, the Corporation had faced some bottlenecks in the full payment of trapped depositors’ funds as a result of the difficulty in realising assets of banks in liquidation due to poor documentation by the banks, revocation of title by authorities and litigations over the assets. The NDIC Board Chairman who noted that some of the assets were located within the FCT said the support of the Ministry in realising them would assist the Corporation in the effective discharge of its mandate of deposit guarantee which ensures that depositors recover their savings in the event of bank failure.
Speaking further, NDIC’s Managing Director Mr Bello Hassan elaborated on the roles and relationship between the NDIC and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in the management of banks assets. He explained that the NDIC as a liquidator focuses on the assets of closed banks following revocation of their licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) while AMCON was involved with only Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of existing banks acquired by AMCON.
Responding, Minister of FCT Mohammed Musa Bello observed that problems relating to landed properties in the FCT were usually not by the Ministry but from issues arising from the title of such properties. He however said the Ministry was amenable to assisting the Corporation in resolving issues around its properties and those of banks in liquidation in the FCT within the ambit of the law.
