Abuja: Some debt recovery agents of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) have highlighted that secrecy and connivance by officials of defunct banks are obstructing the asset recovery processes of failed banks. These concerns were expressed during the NDIC Sensitisation Seminar for the Corporation’s Debt Recovery Agents in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Mr. Augustine Ukauzo, an NDIC agent with Consecrated Law Firm, pointed out that the lack of due diligence by certain defunct bank officials in granting loans is complicating the recovery efforts for agents. Ukauzo noted that loans were often approved based on personal relationships, with no documented evidence to trace and recover the loans. He emphasized that loans were sometimes issued without adequate collateral and poor record keeping further hindered recovery efforts.
Another agent, Dr. Abdullahi Tahir, recommended the inclusion of Bank Verification Number (BVN) as a requirement for loan issuance by banks and regulatory bodies. Tahir argued that this would facilitate prompt and effective debt recovery by linking individuals to their companies, thus preventing debtors from circumventing repayment through multiple company ownerships.
Moses Agbolono, another agent, suggested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and NDIC should hold bank managers accountable in the event of a bank’s liquidation. Meanwhile, Olufemi Kushimo, Director of the Legal Department at NDIC, highlighted that the seminar aimed to educate debt recovery agents on the powers of the NDIC Act 2023, which serves as a comprehensive recovery tool to enhance the corporation’s debt recovery mechanism.
Mrs. Patricia Okosun, Director of the Asset Management Department of NDIC, remarked that litigation often hampers the agents’ work. She noted that the seminar would inform agents about the powers granted to them by the NDIC Act 2023, including the ability to foreclose on assets that have legal mortgages, even in the face of court challenges.
The seminar, organized for NDIC Debt Recovery Agents in the Northern part of Nigeria, carried the theme, ‘Operationalising the Provisions of NDIC Act 2023 for Effective Debt Recovery.’