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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Heritage Bank depositors demand full refunds

From The Punch · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • The Concerned Heritage Bank Depositors Forum wants the government, Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation to settle eligible claims in full.
  • Depositors say more than two years of uncertainty has affected savings needed for school fees, medical care, businesses and retirement.
  • NDIC chief Thompson Sunday said some customers remain untraced because the bank inherited accounts created before the Bank Verification Number system.

Depositors of the failed Heritage Bank are pressing Nigerian authorities to return all outstanding funds, saying the delay has turned trapped accounts into a household financial crisis.

The Concerned Heritage Bank Depositors Forum said customers had faced prolonged uncertainty since the bank’s licence was revoked. It urged the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation to intensify efforts to resolve unpaid claims.

Behind every trapped account is a Nigerian family facing real hardship. Let’s join hands to push the campaign. Justice delayed is hardship prolonged. Nigerians had saved responsibly, and institutions must equally act responsibly in resolving the matter.

— Concerned Heritage Bank Depositors ForumThe depositors’ group appealed for public support for its campaign to recover outstanding funds.

The Central Bank revoked Heritage Bank’s licence on June 3, 2024, saying the lender had failed to improve its financial position and had no realistic prospects of recovery. The NDIC then became the bank’s liquidator, responsible for recovering assets and paying depositors through the applicable liquidation process.

We saved responsibly. They must pay responsibly.

— Concerned Heritage Bank Depositors ForumThe group used the statement to summarise its demand for repayment.

The depositors’ group said some customers still could not access legitimate funds. It said the money represented years of savings and income, and was needed for school fees, medical treatment, business financing and retirement expenses. The group appealed to civil society organisations, the media and other stakeholders to support its campaign, declaring, “Behind every trapped account is a Nigerian family facing real hardship. Let’s join hands to push the campaign. Justice delayed is hardship prolonged. Nigerians had saved responsibly, and institutions must equally act responsibly in resolving the matter.”

NDIC Managing Director Thompson Sunday said some depositors had yet to be traced because Heritage Bank inherited accounts from institutions including Enterprise Bank, Spring Bank and Guardian Express Bank. Many of those accounts predated the BVN system. “There are depositors that we have not been able to trace, and this is an opportunity for them to come forward. Once they do, we will” Sunday said, with the statement ending there. The depositors summarised their demand more bluntly: “We saved responsibly. They must pay responsibly.”

There are depositors that we have not been able to trace, and this is an opportunity for them to come forward. Once they do, we will

— Thompson SundayThe NDIC chief explained that some customers remained untraced because inherited accounts predated the BVN system; the quoted statement is incomplete in the supplied text.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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