NDIC Releases N1.072 Billion to Savannah Bank

Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, CEO, NDIC

In order to enable Savannah Bank of Nigeria (SBN) resume operations, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said it has released a total of N1.072 billion of the bank’s fund.

The corporation stated this in its 2011 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, which was made available to journalists Wednesday.

A breakdown of the amount showed that NDIC released N450 million to the bank in 2009 and a balance of N460 million. Similarly, it disclosed that the sum of $1.029 million (N162 million) belonging to the bank was equally released in 2011.

Managing Director/Chief Executive, NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, said recently that the corporation was working with the management of SBN to ensure that the financial institution return to business.

The report also showed that the cumulative recovery of assets of closed banks in liquidation had reached about N22.236 billion in 2011.This represented an increase of about 2 per cent compared to about N21.756 billion recovery made in 2010. Moreover, it said a total sum of N13.48 million had also been recovered from closed microfinance banks as at December, 2011.

Ibrahim, while appraising the corporation's activities in the period under review, also noted that it had further commenced payment of insured deposits to the depositors of Triumph and Fortune Banks) which were closed in 2006.

He said about N26 million out of N804.35 million had been paid to 656 depositors of Fortune Bank in-liquidation while about N1.6 million out of N45.36 million had been paid to 35 depositors of Triumph Bank in-liquidation as at December 2011.

The NDIC boss also stated that the corporation enhanced the pace of debt recovery as well as payment of uninsured deposits by appointing a number of debt recovery agents and offering for purchase 13 eligible bank assets with total book value of N3.85 billion to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to boost recovery and facilitate payment last year. 

According to him: “It is heartwarming to indicate that during the year under review, three (3) additional banks in-liquidation, namely: Co-operative and Commerce Bank, Commercial Trust Bank and Ivory Merchant Bank, had declared a final dividend of 100 per cent of total deposits. With that development, fourteen (14) of the thirty-four (34 liquidated banks prior to 2006 had declared a final dividend of 100 percent of total deposits, indicating that all their depositors would fully recover their deposits trapped in the banks.”

Continuing, he noted that: “The NDIC had in the last one year recorded notable achievements in the protection of depositors and promotion of safe, sound and stable banking system in Nigeria.

“There is ample evidence that with careful formulation and adoption of appropriate strategies, the management and staff of the corporation are committed to ensuring that the corporation fulfills its statutory mandate. The corporation is committed to remain an active component of the Nigerian financial safety-net, particularly in the area of engendering confidence and contributing to financial system stability.”