A bill to amend the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Act has scaled second reading in the Senate.

This followed the presentation of the lead debate on the bill’s general principles by the sponsor, Adetokunbo Abiru, and co-sponsored by 41 other senators.

The bill is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Act No 63 of 2023 to Make the Corporation More Effective, Ensure its Independence and Autonomy in Line with Section 1(3) of the Principal Act and for other related matters’.

Leading the debate, Mr Abiru, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, said the bill was read for the first time on November 22, 2023.

He said the NDIC was set up to protect depositors and to guarantee the settlement of insured funds when a deposit-taking financial institution could no longer repay their deposits.

“Though the 2023 Act made substantial improvements to the 2006 Act, its implementation has been fraught with continuous debates.

“And there have been series of appeals from and consensus among stakeholders on the need for an amendment of the Act to address all the issues that have been raised concerning it,” he argued.

Mr Abiru said the bill’s objectives included laying to rest the claims that the document was assented to by the former president was materially different from what was passed by the ninth National Assembly.

Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who presided at plenary, said the bill would further strengthen the NDIC to perform its statutory functions optimally.

The bill was, thereafter, referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions for further legislative action and to report back in two weeks.

(NAN)