The Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mr. Thompson Oludare Sunday, says a new era of accountability has begun in the banking sector, following the enactment of stronger laws that empower the NDIC to prosecute individuals responsible for bank failures.
Sunday stated this during a courtesy visit by the President of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN), Mr. Chimezie Victor Ihekweazu (SAN), and his council members at the NDIC headquarters in Abuja.
He explained that the NDIC Act No. 30 of 2023 and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 now give the Corporation wider powers to liquidate failed banks, recover assets, and hold culpable parties accountable.
“Individuals can no longer hide under legal loopholes to escape liability,” he said, noting that the strengthened legal framework has prompted people who previously evaded justice to seek out-of-court settlements.
Sunday credited the National Assembly and judiciary for closing legal gaps and improving judicial understanding of deposit insurance matters.
He highlighted that the NDIC recently realized enough assets to pay the first round of liquidation dividends to uninsured depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank within one year of its licence revocation — describing the achievement as “unprecedented in Nigeria’s banking history.”
BRIPAN President, Ihekweazu, praised the NDIC for its leadership in strengthening the resolution framework for failed banks and called for deeper collaboration among regulators and stakeholders to sustain public confidence in the financial system.