NDIC stresses importance of depositor confidence in financial system

By Onu Okorie

Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mr. Thompson Oludare Sunday, has called for renewed efforts to protect depositor confidence as Nigeria contends with technological, geopolitical and economic disruptions threatening the stability of the financial system.
He stated this during the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria CIBN in Abuja yesterday. Sunday, who was represented at the event by the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Mrs. Emily Chidinma Osuji, said in a goodwill message that building resilience in the financial sector required strong institutions, effective risk management, sound corporate governance, operational preparedness and the capacity to respond to emerging threats.
He described depositor confidence as a critical foundation of financial stability, noting that effective deposit insurance, robust supervision and orderly bank resolution mechanisms remained essential components of the financial safety net.
The NDIC boss further warned that while digital transformation was deepening financial inclusion, it was also introducing new risks around cybersecurity, data protection, fraud and operational resilience. He therefore called for closer collaboration among regulators, banks, fintech operators, payment service providers and professional bodies to ensure that innovation does not undermine the safety and integrity of the financial system.
Also speaking at the event, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the Federal Government was expanding its architecture of guarantees, risk-sharing, blended finance and credit enhancement, with the newly established National Credit Guarantee Company expected to play a central role in mobilising private capital into productive activities.
The President said the goal was to ensure that government intervention catalyses private investment, rather than leaving government as the primary financier of economic activity.
“Let me move from how much government spends to how much productive capital it catalyses,” he said.
Tinubu identified growth facilitation, financial inclusion, technology, long-term capital and trust as five critical imperatives for building a resilient financial system capable of supporting Nigeria’s economic transformation.
President Challenges Banks on Recapitalisation Gains
On the recently concluded bank recapitalisation exercise, Tinubu said the outcome should amount to more than bigger balance sheets, insisting that the additional capital raised must translate into increased financing for Nigerian businesses seeking to expand.
“A bigger bank that does not finance a more productive economy is a suboptimal outcome,” he said.
The President also challenged banks to broaden access to finance beyond customers with conventional collateral, arguing that viable businesses and entrepreneurs should instead be assessed based on their potential and cash flows. He said genuine financial inclusion should enable market women to obtain working capital at reasonable costs, and allow young entrepreneurs to access credit without necessarily possessing conventional collateral.