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The new management of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Thompson O. Sunday, recently paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.

During the visit, Mr. Sunday reiterated the NDIC’s willingness to collaborate with the CBN towards enhancing financial system stability in the country. 

He expressed appreciation for the CBN’s support in premium collection from insured institutions and outlined NDIC’s recent milestones to include the payment of N54.62 billion to 691,418 depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank, 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.

Mr. Cardoso expressed optimism about deepening collaboration between the two institutions towards safeguarding Nigeria’s financial system, amidst evolving economic challenges. 

“Our meeting today is a clear testament to our willingness to work together,” said the CBN Governor. “The CBN counts on NDIC’s support in navigating the uncertain times that we are in.”

According to a statement signed by Hawwau Gambo, Head, Communication & Public Affairs, NDIC, and shared with Financial Nigeria, Mr. 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, Mr. Sunday commended the CBN for its reform programmes under the leadership of Cardoso, particularly the stabilisation of the foreign exchange market as well as the ongoing recapitalisation of the 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 minimisation 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.

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 also appealed to the CBN to consider developing a joint crisis preparedness framework with the NDIC towards enhancing crisis management. 

In her response, the CBN Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Rita Sike, 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.

The NDIC team on the visit included the Executive Director, Operations, Kabir Katata; Director, Human Resources, Yakubu Shehu; Director, Legal Department, Olufemi Kushimo; and Regina Dimlong, Assistant Director, Communications & Public Affairs Department.