The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has reassured Nigerians that the federal government would not be involved in the running of the three banks it recently nationalised.
NDIC managing director, Umaru Ibrahim, said in Abuja yesterday that the banks, whose boards and management teams were approved over the weekend, would only have AMCON as a mere shareholder, which would not, directly or indirectly, interfere in the business of running of these banks.
The three new banks are Enterprise Bank Limited, Keystone Bank Limited, and Mainstreet Bank Limited.Mr Ibrahim, who spoke at the beginning of training for staff of the corporation in Abuja to help meet the demands of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), dismissed any claims that the decision to nationalise the three banks was premeditated.
“There is no question of us (NDIC) and the action being premeditated. One must plan to execute things very well, and that is what government did in the interest of the nation’s economy as well as the stability of the financial system, the banking system, and depositors in particular.
“All depositors are well protected. So, if one has money in those banks, one should go and try, and one will get his money. Those working in the banks are assured of their jobs. They are all there working in the banks now. The banks have been duly capitalised by AMCON, a new management and board had just been announced and business continues,” he said.
The NDIC boss argued that for Nigeria to achieve its vision to be one of the top 20 economies by 2020, one of the key requirements is for the country’s financial reporting system to keep in tandem with global best practices.
This, he said, informed the corporation’s decision to organise the training for its staff, to help them understand and appreciate the IFRS concept, adding that Nigeria is committed to achieving this objective, “considering the various measures put in place by the federal government to adopt the international financial reporting standards regime.”
He said Nigerian banks have demonstrated their preparedness to adopt the IFRS, while the regulators are obliged to show similar and indeed higher commitment than the operators in embracing the new concept.
To realise this objective, he said the NDIC had sought the technical expertise of the Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) of the US Department of the Treasury to augment its efforts of capacity building for its staff in the international financial reporting standards, pointing out that the collaboration was informed by the signing into law of the financial reporting council bill by President Goodluck Jonathan last month.
“The financial reporting council is to replace the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB). All these developments underline the significance and readiness of the government to comply with the IFRS at various levels by all relevant bodies and agencies in the country,” Mr Ibrahim said.
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