The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called for stronger collaboration between stakeholders in the banking and other financial institutions with law enforcement agencies in order to frontally address the worrisome menace of insider abuses and malpractices in the financial system.
The corporation’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bello Hassan, made this call while speaking at the capacity building workshop with the theme “Effective Collaboration as a strategy in the fight against insider abuses and financial malpractices in Banks and Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria” for law enforcement agencies in Lagos.
The deposit insurance expert, who linked insider abuses and financial malpractices to some banks’ failure in the country, cautioned that if the menace was not frontally addressed, it could erode public confidence in the nation’s banking system.
Hassan explained that the workshop was organized to consolidate on the current collaborative efforts between the corporation and law enforcement agencies in the fight against insider abuse and financial malpractices in the banking industry.
He said: “In line with similar initiatives by the Corporation, this workshop aims to complement the efforts of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Implementation of Failed Banks Act, and I want to believe that all the Agencies involved as members of the Task Force are being represented at this workshop.
“The Corporation, whilst bearing in mind the positive impact of such collaboration will continue to strive at enhancing the synergy between all of us in the area of law enforcement relating to investigation and prosecution of financial malpractices.
“Please permit me to use this forum to appeal to the members of the Task Force not to relent on your oars but to execute the given mandate diligently thereby achieving the objectives of establishing the Task Force.
“Through our collaborative efforts, I am aware that fourteen (14) prosecution cases are on-going at various courts, eighteen (18) on-going investigation with FMIU, eight (8) with EFCC and nine (9) concluded investigations with Federal Ministry of Justice for advice and prosecution. This is an indication that we are on the right course”, Hassan added.
While commending the agencies for their support in the fight against financial frauds so far, the NDIC’s boss told the law enforcement agencies’ participants at the workshop not to relent in their efforts to nip the menace in the bud.
He assured that the since the Corporation was aware of the challenges they faced in investigating and prosecuting financial malpractices and banking fraud cases in the country, it would continue to support their agencies at all times in the task ahead.
