ABUJA – Unpaid debts by directors and other management staff of Nigerian financial institutions which now stand at whopping N49, 640,763,663.22 have been traced to the cause of bank failures in the country.

This is even as the Senate frowned at complacent disposition of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, (NDIC) the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, (EFCC) the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Police Force to the situation.

To this end, the Senate resolved that the NDIC and the CBN should pay depositors of the failed banks their money without further delay and to make quarterly report of recovery status of the loaned monies to the Senate.

The legislators also enjoined the EFCC, Nigerian Police and other law enforcement agencies of government to wake up to their responsibilities of prosecuting the offenders and recovering of the “stolen” funds accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Senate has mandated its Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions to conduct a public hearing in order to solicit and galvanize more information on the matter.

Presenting her “Final Report of the Motion on the Agonies of Depositors of Failed Banks and Financial Institutions” earlier, chairman of the Senate committee on Banking Senator Nkechi Nwaogu blamed NDIC and other relevant agencies for aggravating the pains of victims of the failed banks.

According to her, “NDIC has not satisfactorily met its obligations because numerous complaints persist from depositors who have not been paid their deposits as is evident from available statistics”.

She further told the senate that unrecovered insider credits might have contributed to the failure of the banks, stressing that out of N54, 393,747,043.22 taken as loans by various directors of the failed banks, only N4, 752,983,380 has been recovered as at August, 30, 2008.

In their contributions to the debate, the senators regretted that the fraudulent bank executives were yet walking free and directing affairs of banks in Nigeria without remorse for their irresponsible attitudes that had caused closure of promising banks as well as jeopardising the interests of depositors.

They therefore called for immediate prosecution of the defaulting bank managers and the money recovered from them accordingly.

Among those who spoke at the session which was presided over by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu yesterday included, Senators Joseph Akaagerger, Mohammed Mohammed, Sola Akinyede, Abubakar Sodangi, Ibrahim Ida, Patrick Osakwe, Eyinaya Abaribe, Effiong Bob, Felix Bajumo, and Mohammed Makarfi.