The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, on Wednesday vowed to go after debtors of Heritage Bank. According to the Corporation, the failed bank was owed about N700 billion by debtors.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of the Corporation, Bello Hassan, during a media chat with journalists in Abuja.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had on Monday revoked the operating license of the bank. The apex bank said the decision to revoke the license was took a step to ensure stability in the banking sector.
However, the CBN decision had raised questions and concerns among customers, stakeholders, and the general public.
But the CBN had maintained that it is in its mandate to ensure a sound financial system in Nigeria. Therefore, the revoking of the Heritage Bank operating license with immediate effect.
According to apex bank, the action was taken under the powers granted by Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.
But speaking on the fate of customers of the failed bank, the NDIC Boss said preliminary assessment of the books of the bank, reveals that depositors fund is about N650bn.
Hassan, however, assured customers of the bank that if the N700bn loan is recovered, it would effectively cover the N650bn that customers have deposited with the bank.
He said, “From our preliminary assessment, we have found out that Heritage Bank has N650bn deposits. And the loans owed the bank is about N700bn. If we recover this amount, no depositor will lose their deposit
“We assure depositors that there is no need to panic and that they will get their money back.”
According to reports, the NDIC has been appointed as the liquidator of Heritage Bank. The Corporation has assured that customers with insured deposits will be paid up to the insured limit of N5m.
However, there had been fears that customers of amounts exceeding the insured limit may be at risk.
But speaking on the development, Hassan said there is no need for panic.
The NDIC boss pointed that there are 2.3 million depositors of Heritage Bank. He, however, added that about 99.9 per cent of that figure have less than N5m as deposits.
According to him, only about 4,000 depositors have about N5m and above in the bank.
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