NDIC urges politicians to pay back liquidated banks’ loans

Gbola Subair, Abuja

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has asked politicians who owed the liquidated banks to pay back such debts. The corporation made the appeal in Abuja while playing host to the members of the House committee on banking and currency who were in the place to perform their oversight functions. Receiving the honourable members, the NDIC Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ganiyu Adewale Ogunleye urged the honourable members to prevail on debtor politicians to pay back their debts

Mr. Ogunleye, who disclosed that prominent debtors of the failed banks are the politically exposed people, urged the members of the committee to persuade these debtors who are in the National Assembly to pay back debts owed the failed banks. The NDIC boss, stated that the corporation is proactive in the discharge of its mandate, arguing that if this is not so, the occasional dissolution of boards and managements of erring banks wouldn’t have been.

“We did not want until banks are sick we prevent such sickness by carrying out the routine checks on banks as at when due. On the activities of NDIC, he said the corporation had obtained winding-up orders for 11 out of the 14 banks that failed post consolidation. Mr. Ogunleye said the private deposits of 10 out of the 11 banks have been resolved through the purchase and assumption mechanism while the 11th banks is currently on offer for binding by the 24 universal banks.

He said the 10 banks acquired accorded for N71.7billion out of the N73.4billion deposit liabilities of 11 banks. Disclosing that legal preceding of the three Mr. Ogunleye said the NDIC had been appointed the provisional liquidator of Fortune Bank and Triumph Bank. Responding, the Chairman of the Committee, Chief Ogbuefi Ozomgbachie disclosed that the issue of public and private deposits in failed banks called for concern. Disclosing that the NDIC should ensure that these monies are returned to their owners without much delay, the House committee chairman pledged the readiness of its committee to assist the corporation in the discharge of its duties.

Intercontinental Bank donates N80m hall to university

Akin Adewakun, Lagos

Erastus Akingbola MD,
Intercontinental Bank

Intercontinental Bank Plc last week commissioned the N80million ultra modern Post Graduate Hall it donated to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, bringing to 17 the number of universities that have benefited from the bank’s infrastructure improvement project in recent times. The department of Banking and Finance in the university was also donated by the bank’s Chairman, Dr Raymond Obieri.

The ultra modern edifice consists of a high-capacity lecture theatre and expansive administrative office spaces at the ground floor. The building, which is the only and biggest auditorium in the university, is meant to accommodate all staff of the Post Graduate School, including the Dean, 13 sub-deans, 10 professors and Readers.

Commissioning the complex, last Friday, the Minister of Education, Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu commended the bank for its monumental interventions in several universities across the country adding that the bank’s initiative was in line with government’s drive to give the nations educational sector a facelift.

He noted that he had earlier insisted that any bank that did not assist the education sector should not be patronized by Nigerian universities, stressing however that with the footprint of Intercontinental Bank at some universities namely; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Akungba, Akoko and the University of Benin, he was convinced that the bank deserved patronage by his ministry.

He said government alone could not solve the seemingly intractable problems facing the educational sector and urged other private enterprises to emulate the Intercontinental bank’s scheme.

In his address, Chairman, Board of Directors, Dr Raymond Obieri said the decision to donate the building was a clear demonstration of its support for the development initiative of the university, adding “this building is also part of our nationwide infrastructural improvement scheme, aimed at providing conducive learning environment in our universities”.

Dr Obieri, who added that the commissioning was another testimony to its commitment to education and capacity building in the country, stated that the bank had spent over N1billion in the education sector alone on award of scholarships at both secondary and tertiary levels as well as the building of ultra modern multi-floored hostels, classroom blocks and auditorium for students in several universities under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in universities spread across the country.

Also speaking, Vice-Chancellor Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Ilochi Okafor expressed heartfelt gratitude to intercontinental Bank for its magnanimity in funding the building to the tune of nearly N80million.

Intercontinental Bank is the leading financial institution in private sector participation in the educational sector. As part of its efforts to alleviate the huge inadequacies in scholarship and academic infrastructure. To date, it has extended this policy of social investment to 16 universities at a cost of over N800 million. The bank intends to imprint its social vision in every public university in Nigeria. The bank has also given out scholarships to thousands of students over the years.

Based on this accomplishment, Vanguard Newspapers declared the bank the Most Corporate and Socially Responsible Bank in Nigeria for its unmatched corporate social responsibility activities in the country.

Intercontinental Bank is one of Nigeria’s biggest banks by capital, the fifth biggest bank in Africa and the only Nigerian bank among world top 500 banks. According to The Banker magazine, a subsidiary of Financial Times of London, intercontinental is the second fastest growing bank in the world currently.

The bank has been executing a bold enhancement strategy of all its processes in line with the highest international standard-customer service, I.T and E-banking, expansion of our business lines, strengthening of risk management.

Intercontinental Bank has evolved into one of the largest and most diversified financial services institutions in Nigeria, with one of the largest shareholders fund in the country of N177 billion, a network of about 300 branches all linked by cutting-edge IT infrastructure and a total asset base of over N818 billion.