NDIC Vows to Recover N700Bn Loan Owed Heritage Bank

Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Wednesday said it would go after debtors of Heritage Bank owing the bank about N700bn.

Bello Hassan, managing director of the Corporation gave the figure during a chat with journalists in Abuja.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had on Monday took a significant step to ensure stability in the banking sector by revoking the license of Heritage Bank Plc.

This decision had raised questions and concerns among customers, stakeholders, and the general public.

The CBN, in its mandate to ensure a sound financial system in Nigeria, revoked the license of the bank with immediate effect.

This action was taken under the powers granted by Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.

Speaking on the move, the NDIC Boss said that based on preliminary assessment of the books of the bank, the amount of depositors fund is about N650bn.

The NDIC boss assured customers of the bank that if the N700bn loan is recovered, it would effectively cover the N650bn that customers have deposited with the bank.

He said, “From our preliminary assessment, we have found out that Heritage Bank has N650bn deposits and loans is about N700bn and if we recover this amount, no depositor will lose their deposit

“We assure depositors that there is no need to panic and tbat they will get their money bank.”

The NDIC has been appointed as the liquidator of Heritage Bank. Customers with insured deposits will be paid up to the insured limit of N5m. There had been fears that customers of amounts exceeding the insured limit may be at risk.

But speaking on the development, Hassan said there is no need for panic.

He said there are 2.3 million depositors of Heritage Bank, adding that about 99.9 per cent of that figure have less than N5m as deposits.

According to him, only about 4,000 depositors have about N5m and above in the bank.