NDIC Pays N4bn to Depositors of Failed Microfinance Banks

(read article at NigerianTribune.com)

Written by Odidison Omankhanlen Monday, 01 August 2011 

 

The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has so far paid  N4 billion to depositors of failed microfinance banks (MFBs) in the country.

Speaking at the NDIC 2011 examiners’ conference in Lagos at the weekend, the Managing Director/Chief Executive, NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, stated that the corporation had so far paid over half of the depositors of the MFBs that failed last year, adding that it was now partnering with Unity Bank and Intercontinental Bank to assist in verifying and paying the affected depositors.

“We have done a lot since December last year when we started paying them. It is an ongoing exercise but we had to stop. W went out three times to pay the depositors of the failed MFBs and I believe we have paid almost N4billion and we have paid more than 50 per cent of those depositors.

“We will continue to call on them to come forward and verify their claims and collect their insured deposits in the banks we are partnering with,” he said.

Alhaji Ibrahim allayed fears over the emerging mega status of some banks in the post recapitalisation of the rescued banks, stating that  the regulators would  ensure that the merged banks put relevant structures in place to avert any failure.

“Well, it might be true that in solving one problem, you may end up creating another problem. We just talked about the need to have a comprehensive framework to deal with issues concerning the sector.

“They have to be encouraged to have enough quality and quantity of capital to put up a robust risk management system and  corporate governance such that they do not fail and if they have to fail, their failure will be settled in such a manner that it does not pose a threat to the entire financial system,” he declared.

Ibrahim further said  that though the regulators were not involved in the preliminary merger plans of the banks, they would ensure that only those that meet the recommended criteria are granted the final approval.

80 Million Nigerians are Poor

BY VICTORIA OJEME
*80 Million Nigerians are Poor

ABUJA – 80 million Nigerians are still leaving below the poverty line, Senior Special Assistant to the President and National Coordinator of National Poverty Eradication Programme, Dr. Magnus Kpakol, said yesterday.

This came as Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Josephine Anenih, noted that poverty had continued to claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of women in child birth each year, adding that most violence and destruction of lives and property in the country were a result of poverty.

Dr Kpakol, who disclosed this at a one day workshop with NAPEP management and state coordinators and secretaries, said of the number, Lagos State had the highest percentage of 62.

His words: “In a country with a population of 150 million, 80 million are living in poverty, we need to do something about it. On our own, whether we are in government or not, we have to play a role in some one’s life, this has to change.”

He called on state governments to put money into creating small scale businesses, saying “they have to build private sectors and it is only by doing so that poverty will reduce drastically.

“As we can see, so many of them were used during election but if they had something doing, they would not have participated in the recent post-election crisis. We need to have a strong economy that people can get jobs. By so doing, we will find ourselves moving forward.”