By Tony Obiechina Abuja
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, has congratulated the new Managing Director and the Executive Director Operations of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on their appointments and expressed optimism about deepening collaboration between the two institutions.
This was disclosed during a courtesy call by the newly appointed Management of the NDIC, led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Thompson O. Sunday, today at the CBN Headquarters in Abuja.
“Our meeting today is a clear testament to our willingness to work together. The CBN counts on NDIC’s support in navigating the uncertain times that we are in”, the CBN Boss stated.
He reiterated that the visit underscored the shared commitment of both institutions to strengthen collaboration towards safeguarding Nigeria’s financial system, amidst evolving economic challenges.
Cardoso averred that his two years in office have revealed critical lessons in the financial industry, requiring that the CBN and the NDIC proactively deal with potential shocks by leveraging modern tools for financial stability.
He described the NDIC’s visit as timely, urging both institutions to work closely in mitigating risks and ensuring depositor confidence.
Earlier in his address, the NDIC MD/CE, Mr. Thompson O. Sunday, commended the CBN for its reform programmes under the leadership of Mr. Cardoso, particularly the stabilization of the forex market as well as the ongoing recapitalization of Deposit Money Banks.
He stated that the NDIC was committed to aligning its operations with the NDIC Act 2023 (as amended), explaining that the Corporation was in the process of embarking on a strategic restructuring to better align operations with its risk minimization mandate as well as developing a new corporate strategy as the one in use was due to expire at the end of the current year.
Mr. Sunday reiterated the NDIC’s willingness to collaborate with the CBN towards enhancing financial system stability, expressing appreciation for the CBN’s support in premium collection from insured institutions.
He also outlined the Corporation’s recent milestones, to include the payment of N54.62 billion to 691,418 depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank, and the declaration of a liquidation dividend of 9.2 kobo per Naira to uninsured depositors within a year of closure and the ongoing efforts to develop a target funding framework.
The NDIC Chief Executive also listed some challenges facing the Corporation to include the absence of a unique identifier such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) for corporate customers and the difficulty in collecting premiums from insured institutions that do not maintain accounts with the CBN.
He expressed the willingness of the Corporation to work with the CBN to address these gaps. The NDIC Managing Director also appealed to the CBN to consider developing a joint crisis preparedness framework with the Corporation towards enhancing crisis management.
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Mrs. Rita Sike, the CBN Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, in her response stated that the joint crisis preparedness framework could be dealt with under the auspices of the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC), explaining that the CBN was in the process of enhancing the Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) to integrate the Global Standing Instruction (GSI), which will allow for the on-boarding of Other Financial Institutions (OFIs).
The NDIC team included the Executive Director, Operations, Dr Kabir Katata; Director, Human Resources, Mr. Yakubu Shehu; Director, Legal Department, Mr. Olufemi Kushimo; and Mrs. Regina Dimlong, Assistant Director, Communications & Public Affairs Department.
The CBN team also included Mrs. Rita Sike, Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Mr. Nnadi Maduka of Corporate Communication Department and Mrs. Salamatu Jubril- Adeniji of Compliance Department.
