The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of
the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)
Umaru Ibrahim has advised Nigerians to exercise
maximum caution in the adoption of crypto-currencies
as their preferred mode of financial transactions. He
warned that while various forms of digital currencies
currently in operation have their positive and negative
attributes, those who patronize them risk losing their
savings because the medium is largely unregulated and
without the backing or support from the traditional
Central Banks in almost all financial jurisdictions.
The NDIC Boss made the remarks during the courtesy
call by the Board and Management of the Corporation
on the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in his
officer at the National Assembly Complex, in Abuja.
Earlier, in her opening remarks, the Chairman of the
Board of the Corporation, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun, informed
the Speaker that the NDIC remained a critical player in
the Nigerian financial safety net that had contributed
immensely to the growth and stability of the nation’s
financial stability in the 30 years of its operations using
best practices. She added that recently the NDIC
became the worst public sector institution in Nigeria to
be awarded three International Standard Organization
(ISO) certifcations simultaneously by the British
Standards Institute (BSI) in view of its result oriented
system, processes and procedures.
The Board Chairman solicited the assistance of the
House in the passage of the NDIC Act Amendment Bill
currently before the National Assembly. In his response,
the Speaker commended NDIC on the visit, describing it
as a right step towards fostering harmonious working
relationship with agencies in the executive arm of
government.
On the issue of Crypto currency, he noted that as the
entire world currently exploited ways of mainstreaming
its use into the global #nancial landscape, NDIC and
other safety-net participants in the country must not be
left behind in the adoption of appropriate regulatory
framework to deal with the prevalence of crypto
currencies in the global financial space.
The Hon. Speaker said added that only recently, there
was a meeting of world leaders in Osaka, Japan to
deliberate on the subject. Responding to a specific request from the Board and Management of the
Corporation, he assured that the House, under his
leadership will ensure that the most appropriate
Committee is assigned to handle the oversight
functions of the Corporation.
SUNDAY A. OLUYEMI
DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATION & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
