The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has attributed the delay in its efforts to prosecute those involved in failed banks in the country as fast as possible to the nature of the nation’s judicial process.
The head, Corporate and Public Affairs Unit of NDIC, Mr. Hadi Sule Birchi, disclosed this yesterday while speaking to newsmen on the sideline of Deposit Insurance Service (DIS) sensitization seminar for Batch A 2015 Corps members, held at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp, Nonwa in Tai local government area of Rivers State.
Birchi said, “The judiciary that we know, it is not their fault; but there are so many things we call factors. You can get somebody who is a debtor, a criminal debtor, because the bank was even acquired illegally. But the day you will take him to the Court, he pleads not guilty. Next time the Case is adjourned, they will tell you that he did not come to Court because he is in the hospital. The person may be abroad or somewhere in one hotel.
“ This is the issue; this is the nature of the country and I believe the if you remember the failed banks tribunal, when once you are arraigned before the Court, even if you did plead guilty or not, before you can get bail, you have to pay half of the money. Then NDIC was able to recover a lot of money from those arraigned. So, this is the issue we are talking about.”
Emphasizing the deposit insurance is relatively new to Nigerians; the NDIC image-maker stated that the corporation decided to take the sensitization campaign to youth corpers, so that Nigerians will begin to appreciate the essence of insurance and banking.
He said, “Deposit insurance is something new and a lot of people do not know anything about it. That is why we took the pains to come here to sensitize the corpers about the benefits of deposit insurance. Everybody is a potential depositor and I believe that if NDIC can stand from here; it is much more than what we call ‘catch them young’, we will be able to appreciate the essence of banking and insurance. The whole idea is to ensure safety, soundness, and efficiency of the banking system in the country.
“The whole essence of the sensitization seminar is to enhance public awareness on the mandates of the NDIC. Deposit insurance is a novelty; it is something unusual. It is knowledge-based. In 2003, the International Association mandated all deposit insurance corporations in all the country to set aside a week to create awareness.”
