The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has said it adhered to statutory guidelines on the distress resolution and liquidation of Fortis Microfinance Bank Plc and the protection of the interest of depositors.
The NDIC also said it was ensuring that the residual assets of the Fortis MfB in liquidation were realised with a view to paying its uninsured depositors.
The Director, Communication and Publication Affairs, NDIC, Dr Sunday Oluyemi, said this in a statement on Wednesday entitled ‘How NDIC intervened in Fortis Microfinance Bank.’
He said, “It is important to state here that the liquidation of Fortis MFB is ongoing and the corporation is making all necessary efforts to realise the failed MfB’s residual assets (bad loans and physical assets) so as to enable the NDIC to pay depositors with funds in excess of the insured limits.
“The payment will be in the form of liquidation dividends, as has been the case with many closed banks currently under liquidation.
“We like to assure the general public that the corporation is intensifying efforts to ensure that the residual assets of the Fortis MfB in liquidation are realised with a view to paying the MfB’s uninsured depositors.”
He said when all the regulatory efforts to turn around the fortunes of the bank failed to yield the desired results after its mismanagement, the Central Bank of Nigeria was left with no other option than to revoke its operating licence in December 2018.
He said as soon as Fortis MfB’s operating licence was withdrawn, the NDIC, in line with its mandate, swiftly verified the defunct MfB’s depositors and commenced payment of the insured sums up to the maximum limit.
Oluyemi stated that it was on record that through its sustained and diligent liquidation activities, the NDIC realised assets to pay in full the deposits of the customers of 19 banks previously liquidated.
The depositors of the affected closed banks who filled their claims had been paid all their deposits, he said.
