CBN, NDIC take over NERFUND

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the take over of the management and control of the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

The decision to take over the management and control of the Fund, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance, followed Jonathan’s approval of the recommendations of the CBN and NDIC Joint Special Examination report on the books and affairs of the Fund.

According to the report, the capital invested in the institution by the Ministry of Finance had been completely eroded with gross losses which stood at N5.7 billion. The Fund, the report added, had not been able to service loans taken for on-lending from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Ministry of Finance and other sources.

The new management team appointed by the Ministry of Finance is headed by Muhammad GidadoKollere of the NDIC as managing director/CEO and Ihua Elenworof the CBN as executive director (operations).

The team which is to oversee the affairs of the institution for an initial period of one year is also mandated to, among other things, mount an aggressive recovery of all outstanding loans, overhaul the Fund’s records, reconcile all accounts with correspondent banks and render quarterly report to the board of the Fund, headed by the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance.