The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has paid off 526,414 depositors of liquidated banks, the Managing Director of the corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, has said.

He said all the depositors of the 17 defunct banks who came forward to file their claims had been paid all their money previously trapped in those banks.

Ibrahim, who spoke at a forum to mark the 30th anniversary of the corporation, said about N29.52bn had been recovered from the debtors of the liquidated banks.

He said of this amount, N29.11bn was recovered from debtors of the Deposit Money Banks in-liquidation, while N129.10m was realised from debtors of failed microfinance banks.

He said the balance of N300m was recovered from debtors of failed Primary Mortgage Banks.

Ibrahim said the corporation would continue to ensure that depositors of liquidated banks suffered little loss or pain.

He said from 1994 to date, 53 DMBs, 325 MFBs and 51 PMBs were put under liquidation without disruption to the nation’s payment system.

In terms of recovery of assets, Ibrahim said N21.5bn was collected from the disposal of physical assets of closed DMBs; while N404.74m and N78.17m had been realised from the MFBs and the PMBs, respectively.

He said debt collection and assets sales culminated in the payments of over N116.25bn as liquidation dividend to depositors, creditors and shareholders of closed DMBs, MFBs and PMBs.

He said, “It is important to stress that through sustained and diligent liquidation activities, the NDIC has realised assets to pay in full, deposits of the customers of 17 of the DMBs in-liquidation.

He described the banking system as upwardly dynamic, sophisticated and complex, adding that the dynamism and complexity in the last three decades had resulted in the emergence of different operational models, products and services.

He said such developments challenged the corporation’s capacity to protect depositors in its role as a key member of the Nigerian financial safety net.