NDIC restates recipe for sound banking, economic development

The Nigerian Deposit Insurance (NDIC) has restated the recipe for maintaining depositors confidence in Nigeria ‘s banking system is by consistently checking insiders abuses and financial malpractices
which conduce to bank failure.
The corporation insists that unless this is done, it will be difficult to ensure a safe and sound banking environment necessary for economic development.

The Managing Director /Chief Executive, NDIC ,Hassan Bello restated this at the 2024 capacity building workshop for Law Enforcement Agencies held ,Thursday, in Lagos..

In his key note address tagged: “Effective Collaboration as a strategy in the fight against insider abuses in Banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria”, delivered by the Director, Communication and Public Affairs, NDIC, Nuhu Bashir, the NDIC boss restated that to ensure public confidence in the national financial system, the Law enforcement agencies must unite to fight insiders abuses and malpractices which was the major cause of bank failure.
He emphasized that NDIC as a key participant in the financial safety net is consistently fighting insider abuses and financial malpractices in the country.
The, reason, he said : ” A safe and sound banking environment is essential for financial system stability which is the bedrock of economic development.”

Accordingly,he said the workshop is primed to enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting financial crimes and ensuring greater collaboration with NDIC.

While acknowledging the collaborative efforts between NDIC and law enforcement agencies, Hassan implored them to be vigilant at detecting and prosecuting financial crimes.
He further noted that as a result of previous collaboration, 14 prosecution cases are.ongoing at various courts of law, ; 18 investigations are being conducted by the Financial Monitoring Intelligence Unit(FMIU) ; eight cases with Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and nine concluded investigations are with the Federal Ministry of Justice for advise and prosecution.

While commending the law agencies,Hassan, pointed out the challenges posed by technological advancementd and cybercriminal activities,emphasing the need for Law enforcement officers to be equipped with the necessary skills to effectively carry out their duties in the nation’s ecosystem.

He recalled that regulatory and enforcement agencies namely EFCC, CBN, Police force CID, SFU and Federal Ministry of Justice had participated in the previous workshop, adding that the current workshop was skilfully and carefully crafted to re-echo ealier resolve at our previous workshops to unite in the fight against menace of insider abuses and financial malpractices which is a major cause of bank failure, and ” if not tackled is capable of eroding public confidence in our banking system”

The Corporation, whilst bearing in mind the positive impact of such collaboration will continue to strive at enhancing the synergy between all in the area of law enforcement relating to investigation and prosecution of financial malpractices.

This , he argued ,is why workshops like this are necessary to enable law enforcement officers understand the dynamics of operating environment.

“The Authorities, he said are becoming more proactive with policies and examinations/investigations to ensure that the banks/financial institutions strengthen their risk management practices to prevent loss of funds and maintain depositors’ confidence in the banking system.
” This workshop is therefore among the steps taken to provide a platform for the Agencies concerned to sharpen their skills, share ideas and be well-equipped to face the challenges.

Furthermore Hassan urged all representatives of various law agencies to participate actively in the deliberations, engage the facilitators in robust discussions so that at the end of the workshop they will provide actionable measure to maintain public confidence in the ecosystem.