By GINIKA OKOYE

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says it will declare the first tranche of liquidation dividends from Heritage Bank’s asset realisation in April.

According to NDIC, it will thereafter begin payment to uninsured depositors of the bank.

A statement issued by Hawwau Gambo, the Acting Head, Communication and Public Affairs of the Corporation in Abuja on Sunday, said the depositors would be paid on a pro-rata basis.

Gambo said the payment would be in line with Section 72 of the NDIC Act 2023 on the priority of claims.

She said the Corporation was reacting in response to concerns raised by depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank whose balances exceeded the maximum deposit insurance limit of N5 million.

The official said the Corporation had intensified efforts to ensure timely payments.

"For clarity, the referenced section states that where an insured institution is unable to meet its obligations or suspends payment, or where its management and control have been taken over by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following the revocation of its licence, the assets of the insured institution shall be available to meet its deposit liabilities.

"Such deposit liabilities shall have priority over all other liabilities of the insured institution.

"The NDIC has made substantial progress in disposing the physical assets and recovering some of the debts of the failed bank to ensure that depositors with balances above the maximum insured limit receive their payments as soon as possible.

"As a clear demonstration of this commitment, the Corporation commenced the realisation of physical assets and investments as well as aggressive recovery of the risk assets, concurrently with the verification and payment of insured sums.

"Consequently, other claimants of the failed Heritage Bank, including creditors, and shareholders will be considered for payment of liquidation dividends only after all depositors have been fully reimbursed,” she said.

On depositors of the defunct bank who were yet to be paid their insured deposits, Gambo said that only depositors without Bank Verification Number (BVN) or alternate accounts in other banks were affected.

She said that other depositors in that category were those with post no debit (PND) restrictions on their accounts.

"Additionally, some accounts have Know Your Customer (KYC) limitations such as Tier 1 accounts that places restrictions on the maximum lodgement of funds, while others have name mismatches that require resolution.

"Some depositors who have been paid may also be unaware that they have received payments due to lack of mobile phone transaction alerts on their alternate accounts into which the insured sums were paid by the NDIC.

"Therefore, depositors are advised to check their alternate bank accounts, as some payments may have been processed without their immediate knowledge.” (NAN)