Why some Heritage Bank depositors are yet to be reimbursed — NDIC

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has stated reasons why some depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank are yet to be reimbursed.

At the opening of a three-day retreat for senior management and executive staff of the NDIC, held in Kano, the Director/Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Bello Hassan, said the depositors have not received their reimbursement because they have not provided their alternative bank accounts.

“Why we have not reimbursed them is because we have used their BVN but could not locate their alternate bank account in other banks within the system,” he said

According to him, the NDIC had used the affected depositors’ Bank Verification Number (BVN), but “could not locate their alternative bank accounts with other banks within the system.”

The NDIC then called on the affected depositors to reach out to zonal offices of the NDIC near them to be verified, identified and reimbursed.

According to him, “Depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank that have not been reimbursed, largely because we don’t have their alternate bank accounts to reach out to any of NDIC zonal offices so that they can get verified, identified and reimbursed.

“So I am using this opportunity to appeal to them to come forward. To reach out to any of the zonal offices of NDIC so they can be verified.”

Hasan emphasised that the workshop, in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), is a specialised training for the senior staff, aimed at ensuring efficiency, transparency and accountability for effective procurement and financial management.

“This workshop, organized in collaboration with the BPP as our technical partners, aims at ensuring efficiency, transparency and accountability, to enable the development of effective strategies in procurement processes enterprise-wide.

“We have identified the BPP as a critical stakeholder in our attempt towards developing effective and efficient procurement capabilities, in realizing the Corporation’s strategic thrust for performance-driven culture, excellence and operational resilience, in line with its vision of becoming one of the best deposit insurers in the world.

“To achieve this culture, one of the resolutions reached at the 2023 Executive Procurement Retreat held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State was continuous training which underscored the critical need for capacity building for all NDIC Officers involved in the value chain of the procurement process.

“This workshop, therefore, aligns perfectly with that resolution, and aims at equipping NDIC personnel with the requisite knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the evolving the landscape of public procurement practices, procedures and regulations in Nigeria,” he stated.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, the Director General of the Bureau, Adebowale Adedokun stated that the agency had commenced an investigation into cases of violation in procurement processes as part of an effort to check the excesses of affected organisations.

The fact is that procurement is a public sector-driven system globally, and for the organisation to be able to say, it has spent government money, it has to subject it to public sector procedures.

“So procurement has about nine steps. And you want them to ensure that they are following. So the process is that they are opened. They want to do procurement as prescribed by the law,” he said.

He, however added, “Basically what we here for these three days, Is to come up with solutions to problems they have. Ours is to see what are the problems and then we come over to come up with tailored means of solution.”

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