- Lauds NASS, Judiciary for support
BY COBHAM NSA – The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) is now fully empowered and equipped with stronger and more appropriate laws to effectively deliver on its bank liquidation mandate.
Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Corporation, Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, who gave the assurance recently, said its powers in liquidating failed insured institutions have been significantly enhanced with the enactment of the NDIC Act No. 30 of 2023, together with the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.
Speaking when the President/Council Chairman of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN), Mr. Chimezie Victor Ihekweazu (SAN), and his Executives visited the NDIC Headquarters in Abuja, said the NDIC is now better positioned to prosecute parties at fault for bank failures.
He said this is unlike happenings in the past when inadequate and leaky legal provisions allowed such culpable individuals to evade accountability and responsibilities for their actions or inactions.
Mr. Sunday commended the National Assembly (NASS) for addressing the long-standing challenge of a weak legal framework that had constrained the Corporation’s operations.
Similarly, he praised the judiciary for its growing expertise in deposit insurance law and practice, as demonstrated by the effective adjudication of failed bank cases through judgments that have brought relief to depositors.
According to him, “The enhanced powers granted to the Corporation under the NDIC Act 30 of 2023, the BOFIA 2020 and the improved understanding of the judiciary, have made it impossible for individuals to hide under the law to escape liability.”
A statement issued by Hawwau Gambo, Head, Communication and Public Affairs Department also quoted the NDIC boss as saying, “With stronger legal backing, individuals now approach the Corporation to settle out of court, not necessarily because the law has caught up with them, but because they can see that the noose is tightening around those responsible for bank failures.”
While attributing NDIC’s ability to realise sufficient assets to declare a first round of liquidation dividends to the uninsured depositors of defunct Heritage bank Limited within one year of the revocation of its licence, to the positive impact of the new legal framework, Mr Sunday said the Corporation would continue to leverage the strengthened laws and also partner with BRIPAN and other stakeholders to effectively implement its mandate.
In his remarks, BRIPAN President/Council Chairman, Mr Chimezie Ihekweazu (SAN), highlighted the body’s efforts and achievement in harmonising all insolvency-related laws in the country into a unified framework.
The Senior Lawyer said this development has significantly addressed the challenges of ineffective insolvency and business recovery practices, while introducing more viable options for solvency resolution.
With BRIPAN strongly focusing on capacity building for its members, Mr Ihekweazu stressed the need for further collaboration between NDIC and his association, while also canvassing robust partnership closer among stakeholders, to strengthen insolvency and business recovery practices in Nigeria.
