Mr Wale Edun, minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy,  has inaugurated Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, new managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and Dr Kabir Sabo Katata, executive director (Operations),  at the Ministry of Finance, Abuja.

Mr Wale Edun, minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, flanked by Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, new managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and Dr Kabir Sabo Katata, executive director (Operations),

In his speech during the occasion, the Minister submitted that the NDIC, as a component of the financial safety-net has a crucial role to play in the nation’s march to economic stability and prosperity.

He therefore charged the Management team to bring their diverse wealth of experience to bear on their new assignment while assuring them of the ministry’s full support in the task ahead.

Responding, Mr Sunday who spoke on behalf of the Management team, expressed appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for their appointment.

He assured the Hon Minister of the readiness of the Management under his leadership to live up to expectations of the President in particular and the nation in general in the discharge of their duties.

The Management  later received by the Corporation’s Head Office with a warm welcome by the workforce.

A statement signed by Hawwau Gambo, head, Communication & Public Affairs Department, revealed that Addressing the workers on behalf the Management team, Mr. Sunday promised to work in harmony with the staff to move the Corporation to its next level performance.

He stressed that the Management’s focus would be based on the public policy objectives, functions and mandate devolved on the Corporation by the enabling law that established it.

Thompson Oludare Sunday is a seasoned financial expert with over 30 years of regulatory and supervisory experience.

Having cut his teeth with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1989, he went ahead to acquire high-end knowledge in Central Banking, spending 24 unbroken years in banking supervision.

While his vast experience is in the regulation and supervision of licensed institutions, his deep expertise span corporate governance, risk management and compliance as veritable tool for ensuring the safety and soundness of institutions.

He is a highly analytical and cross functional team worker with strong interest in building individual and institutional capacity for transformation and excellence.

Thompson’s skills and experience were horned by several key responsibilities and special assignments he handled for the apex Bank before his retirement as a Director 2021.

Kabir Sabo Katata, ED (Operations),  is a quantitative energy strategist and computational finance expert with strong power trading and risk management experience.

He has over twenty-eight years’ experience in the design and management of technically innovative systems in multiple industries including telecommunications, IT, energy (petroleum & power), finance and government.

He is a specialist in sophisticated financial optimization, the application of modern statistical techniques and mathematics to energy, deposit insurance and banking sectors.

Dr. Katata joined the service of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2012 as an Assistant Director in the Research, Policy and International Relations Department and rose to the pinnacle of his career as Director in January 2022, before his new appointment as Executive Director (Operations).

Banks in Nigeria closed 29.4 million accounts as of March 2025, according to the latest report by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).

The figure represents a sharp year-on-year increase of 30.43 per cent from the 22.54 million closed accounts recorded in March 2024.

It also reflects a steady rise in account closures over recent months, with 33.29 million closed accounts reported in February 2025 and 29.43 million in January.

The report also revealed a significant increase in dormant accounts, which surged to 33.39 million in March 2025, up from 19.79 million in the same period in 2024, a 71.3 per cent rise in inactive accounts over the past year.

Despite the spike in closures and dormant accounts, the number of active bank accounts rose from 219.64 million in March 2024 to 320.05 million in March 2025, representing an increase of over 100 million, or 45.7 per cent.

NIBSS defines a dormant account as one that has seen no deposit, withdrawal, transfer, or point-of-sale transaction for a period of six months.

The surge in account closures and dormancy follows the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive issued in December 2023, mandating commercial banks to restrict Tier-1 accounts not linked to a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) by March 1, 2024.

In response to the directive, BVN enrolment increased from 61.6 million in April 2024 to 66.23 million by July 2025, as more Nigerians rushed to meet the CBN’s compliance deadline.

The Joint Committee of the House of Representatives on Public Accounts and Public Assets has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), over repeated failure to honour its invitations regarding the probe into non-compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and Finance Act 2020.

Olayemi Cardoso,, Gov, CBN

In a joint statement released on Friday and signed by Hon. Bamidele Salam and Hon. Ademorin Kuye,  chairmen of the committees, the lawmakers decried the CBN governor’s continued disregard for legislative summons.

The committee is investigating the non-remittance of operating surplus as well as the mismanagement of unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances.

According to the committee, the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation reported a liability of N5.2 trillion in unremitted operating surplus due to the federal government from 2016 to 2022; a claim corroborated by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission in a separate submission to the National Assembly.

The committee cited provisions of the Finance Act 2020, which mandate that unclaimed dividends from publicly listed companies and dormant bank account balances older than six years be transferred into the Unclaimed Fund Trust Fund. The fund is to be managed by a Governing Council led by the Minister of Finance and the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Contrary to this, the CBN maintains that the Financial Institutions Act 2020 empowers it to manage dormant balances.

However, the committee noted that the Attorney General of the Federation has issued a legal opinion affirming that the Finance Act 2020 remains the valid law guiding the management of such funds.

Following extensive submissions, the committee resolved that the CBN must remit N3.64 trillion, representing 70% of the undisputed N5.2 trillion operating surplus, within 14 days from receipt of its June 27, 2025, directive, pending final reconciliation of the disputed amount.

Additionally, the apex bank was directed to submit a detailed report on the total sum of unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances by June 30, 2025.

The CBN was also ordered to transfer these funds into the Unclaimed Fund Trust Fund within 14 days and furnish the House with evidence of the transaction.

The lawmakers expressed frustration that, despite the clear directives and ample time, the CBN governor has failed to respond or appear before the joint committee to provide an explanation.

“In view of this continued defiance, the Committee will be compelled to exercise its constitutional powers to compel Mr. Olayemi Cardoso to appear before it,” the statement warned.