The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, has decried the rising spate of non-performing insider loans in various banks and its consequence on the stability of the nation’s banking system.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, expressed this concern, while receiving the newly elected President and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Professor Segun Ajibola, and some of his executive members who paid a courtesy call to the NDIC senior management in Abuja.
Ibrahim said the development had posed credibility questions which were capable of eroding public confidence in the banking system. He called for strict compliance with the existing code of conduct and a review of the existing laws and regulations to provide stiffer penalties for directors who take advantage of their positions by failing to pay back their loans.
The NDIC boss observed that casual staff accounted for about 25 per cent of the banking industry workforce, adding that this portends a negative impact on the industry. Ibrahim noted with concern the practice of some banks that assign sensitive roles to casual staff, thereby exposing the banking industry to massive cases of fraud and forgeries.
Ibrahim, who spoke on the recent staff rationalisation embarked upon by banks, Ibrahim urged banks to exercise caution so as not to create industrial unrest. He, therefore, called on the CIBN to intervene by advising its members on the aims of the rationalisation which was targeted at weeding out bad eggs from the industry.
He stressed that the corporation would continue to partner with the CIBN and other professional bodies towards achieving effective capacity building among its staff.
The NDIC Chief disclosed that 77 members of staff of the corporation were currently undergoing the Bangor/CB MBA programme which commenced three years ago. The Bangor/CB MBA programme is an initiative of the NDIC, the CIBN and the Bangor University, Scotland where staff of the corporation undergo up to 24 months training programme and graduate with dual certification.
