Managing Director, NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, disclosed to journalists on Monday that the regulators would assist the bank to restart operations on a sound footing.

A Federal Court of Appeal, Abuja, on February 20, 2009, had declared that the CBN and NDIC wrongly revoked the bank’s licence and that it should be allowed to return to business, but since then it had been unable to resume operations.

While the committee is committed to helping Savannah Bank to start banking operations, the apex regulators have also challenged the bank to strive to meet all conditions set by the CBN.

The NDIC said it had not considered financial bail-out for the bank, until all banking conditions were met.

Ibrahim on Monday also said the series of reforms being spearheaded by the regulators in the banking sector would not absolutely stop a bank from failing.

He argued that if it were possible, the articulated reforms which the new management of the banking regulatory agencies had embarked upon since 2009, could have prevented the crisis that rocked that sector of the economy.

To this end, the NDIC boss said that more measures needed to be put in place to check future crisis in the sector.

He said, “It is obvious that the regulatory/supervisory authorities have at different times articulated and implemented necessary reform programmes aimed at enhancing the stability of the Nigerian banking industry in particular and the financial system in general.

“Yet, in spite of the reform measures, some banks still failed. The reason for this was simply because by their nature, banks that are badly-managed by their operators, will ultimately fail.”

He said,”In other words, banking reforms do not by any means constitute an antidote to or elixir of bank failure. For this singular reason, the role of Deposit Insurance System in banking reforms cannot be overemphasised.”

Source: Punch/Ifeanyi Onuba