The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has announced that the first tranche of liquidation dividends for uninsured depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank will be paid in April 2025.

This was disclosed in a press statement issued on Sunday by the Acting Head of Communication & Public Affairs, NDIC, Hawwau Gambo.

According to the statement, the first tranche of liquidation dividends will be declared before payments are made to uninsured depositors.

The NDIC noted that payments would be made on a pro-rata basis, in accordance with Section 72 of the NDIC Act 2023, which prioritizes settling deposit liabilities over other obligations when an insured institution fails.

The statement read, “With the considerable progress recorded in the asset realisation, the Corporation will declare the first tranche of liquidation dividends in April 2025, which will be paid to uninsured depositors on a pro-rata basis, in line with Section 72 of the NDIC Act 2023 on the priority of claims.”

The NDIC stated that significant progress has been made in realizing Heritage Bank’s assets and recovering its debts, enabling the planned declaration and subsequent payout.

Heritage Bank’s banking license was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria on June 3, 2024. The NDIC was then appointed as liquidator under Section 12(2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 and Section 55(1 & 2) of the NDIC Act 2023.

Since the revocation, the NDIC has managed the liquidation process, including verifying and paying insured deposits to affected depositors.

The corporation noted significant progress in reimbursing insured deposits, capped at N5 million per depositor. However, some depositors have yet to receive their insured amounts due to various reasons.

The NDIC identified key challenges delaying some payments, including the absence of Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) or alternate bank accounts, which are required to retrieve account details from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System database.

Other issues include post-no-debit restrictions, Know Your Customer (KYC) limitations on Tier 1 accounts that cap fund lodgements, and mismatches in account names, according to the statement.

The NDIC noted that some depositors who have received payments may be unaware due to the absence of mobile transaction alerts linked to their alternate bank accounts. It advised them to check their other bank accounts for processed payments.

Depositors with balances exceeding N5 million have already received the insured portion, while the excess will be paid as liquidation dividends. The NDIC stated that it is actively realizing Heritage Bank’s physical assets and recovering its risk assets to generate funds for these payments.

The NDIC stated that it is simultaneously reimbursing insured depositors while actively selling assets and recovering debts.