Ignore rumours of financial distress in banks – NDIC

Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, has urged the public to discountenance rumors of financial distress in some banks.

A statement by the NDIC said that rumors were being circulated via text messages and social media to de-market those banks and destabilize depositors’ confidence in the banking system.

The statement, signed by its spokesman, Hadi Birchi, said that the NDIC boss made the call when the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

He said the NDIC had over the years played critical role in ensuring that Nigerian banks were safe and sound through effective supervision and assistance to deserving financial institutions.

Ibrahim said the NDIC had continued to closely monitor the challenges facing the industry in order to further safeguard depositors’ interest in the banking system.
He listed challenges affecting the banking industry to include, poor corporate governance, insider loans and non-performing loans.

He said that with NDIC’s strict supervision and regulation of the banking industry in collaboration with CBN, depositors should have full confidence in the safety and security of their funds in licensed banks.

Ibrahim said the NDIC in collaboration with other stakeholders were proposing the establishment of a Centre for Financial and Economics Studies at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru.

According to the NDIC boss, the centre would train participants in essential areas of financial and economic management.
Earlier, Mr Bola Balogun, Chairman, AANI Abuja Chapter, commended the NDIC for its supervisory role, describing it as an invaluable anchor for the security and stability of the nation’s financial system.

Balogun also lauded NDIC’s efforts toward protection of depositors’ funds and consumer protection activities.