NDIC Records ₦950bn CRF Remittance
By Patience Ikpeme
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has paid a total of ₦950 billion into the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) over the years. The corporation expects this contribution to keep growing as it improves its daily operations and financial strength.
Speaking at a media event about how the corporation supports the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the Managing Director of the NDIC, Dr. Thompson Oludare Sunday, stated that the agency does not rely on government funding to run its affairs. Instead, it funds itself entirely through bank insurance premiums and investment income while remaining a steady source of revenue for the government. Dr. Sunday shared that last year alone, the corporation sent about ₦274 billion to the government account.
“I think we have contributed about ₦950 billion to the CRF and even our contribution has been trending northward. Last year, it was around ₦274 billion if I’m right. Hopefully, this year will be better than that,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Raymond Omenka Omachi, praised the NDIC for its financial discipline and regular payments to the government. He described the corporation as one of the few government agencies that willingly pays into the national treasury while standing firmly on its own feet. He noted that the ministry views open talk with the public, clarity, and accountability as vital tools to make economic reforms succeed and improve the lives of millions of Nigerians.
Giving an update on the closed Heritage Bank, the NDIC boss gave fresh hope to customers who still have money trapped in the institution. He stated that the corporation expects to pay most of the remaining depositors once it recovers a massive loan from one of the bank’s biggest debtors. He explained that the NDIC does not stop working after paying the initial protected amounts. Instead, the team keeps chasing bad loans, selling off properties, and converting investments into cash to pay liquidation dividends to people whose account balances are higher than the insurance limit.
“A particular borrower in Heritage Bank is being required to pay a lot of money. If we get that, we will be able to pay most of the depositors,” Dr. Sunday said.
So far, the NDIC has paid more than ₦120 billion to Heritage Bank depositors through insured deposits and liquidation dividends. The breakdown shows that the corporation paid ₦51.04 billion as the first insured part immediately after the bank lost its licence. It followed this up with more payments, distributing ₦46.6 billion in April 2025 and ₦24.3 billion in January 2026.
Dr. Sunday stated that the corporation is fully dedicated to recovering more assets to make additional payments. He also pointed out that the NDIC has made the payment process much faster, cutting down the waiting time from the 30 days allowed by law to just 72 hours. To achieve this, the corporation uses the Bank Verification Number (BVN), the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), and an online claims portal to send money straight into a customer’s alternative bank account, meaning depositors do not need to visit any NDIC office.
“Our law allows us 30 days to pay, but we decided that was too long. We now make payment within 72 hours through our electronic system,” he stated.
These improvements are backed by the new NDIC Act of 2023, which gives regular depositors the highest priority. Under this law, everyday depositors must get their money back before any creditors or bank owners get a single kobo during liquidation. The law also grants the NDIC stronger powers to handle troubled banks, recover assets, and take the people who caused bank failures to court.
Even with these new powers, Dr. Sunday made it clear that the NDIC has no plans to increase the insurance premiums that banks pay. He explained that any change to premiums would require a careful look at many things, warning that making insurance too high could make banks careless with how they handle financial risks. He noted that the current setup already protects 98.98 percent of depositors, so a review will only happen when it is absolutely necessary.
Regular bank customers now enjoy much higher safety limits under the current reforms. The maximum insurance cover for commercial bank customers rose significantly from ₦500,000 to ₦5 million. Customers using microfinance banks, primary mortgage banks, and payment service banks also saw their cover jump from ₦200,000 to ₦2 million. This means 98.98 percent of commercial bank depositors are now fully covered, compared to 89.2 percent in the past. The safety net also covers 99.27 percent of microfinance bank accounts, 99.34 percent of primary mortgage bank accounts, and 99.99 percent of payment service bank accounts.
Regarding the banking sector recapitalisation exercise, Dr. Sunday expressed strong confidence in the financial health of Nigerian banks, stating that regulators only accepted genuine and verified money. He explained that both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NDIC thoroughly checked every single kobo brought in by banks to make sure nobody used borrowed money or illegal funds to buy bank shares.
“The capital that was accepted is very strong. It is the kind of capital that can absorb losses,” he said.
He added that the banking industry is stable and that the corporation does not expect any bank to fail because of the recapitalisation exercise, though the NDIC has already conducted test drills to prepare for any unexpected emergency.
Currently, the NDIC provides insurance cover for 914 licensed financial institutions, including commercial banks, microfinance banks, primary mortgage banks, non-interest banks, and mobile money operators, protecting more than 281 million deposit accounts. In its recovery efforts, the corporation has successfully recovered ₦42.65 billion from unpaid loans, made ₦14.72 billion from wise investments, and generated ₦78.57 billion by selling off buildings and assets belonging to failed banks.
The agency is currently managing the closing down and liquidation of 653 failed financial institutions across the country. To keep banks safe before they run into trouble, the NDIC stepped up its monitoring work by inspecting 287 institutions physically in 2025 and successfully resolving 1,196 out of 1,407 complaints sent in by everyday bank customers.
