Heritage Bank Depositors Petition Tinubu for Bailout as CAC Chief Apologizes to Senate
Depositors affected by Heritage Bank's liquidation have appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu and CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso for immediate reimbursement, while tensions eased between the Senate Finance Committee and the Corporate Affairs Commission following an apology from its registrar-general.
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Depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank have escalated their appeal for reimbursement directly to President Bola Tinubu and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso, seeking swift and full repayment of funds trapped following the bank's liquidation.
The depositors called for immediate bailout funds to the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to expedite the reimbursement process, according to Vanguard News. Heritage Bank's license was revoked by the CBN, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their deposits.
Under Nigerian banking regulations, the NDIC provides deposit insurance coverage up to a maximum of ₦5 million per depositor per institution. However, many commercial depositors and businesses with balances exceeding this threshold face substantial losses unless additional bailout mechanisms are deployed.
The appeal comes as Nigeria's banking sector faces heightened scrutiny over financial stability. The CBN has maintained a policy of swift intervention in troubled banks to prevent systemic contagion, but the pace of depositor compensation remains a contentious issue among affected customers.
In a separate development affecting Nigeria's financial regulatory environment, the Senate Committee on Finance withdrew its call for President Tinubu to remove Hussaini Magaji, Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), following his apology to lawmakers during a budget defence session on Monday in Abuja.
According to Daily Trust, Magaji appeared before the committee and offered a remorseful apology, prompting senators to rescind their earlier demand for his dismissal. The initial tension arose from unspecified disagreements between the CAC leadership and the Senate committee, which oversees the commission's budget and operations.
The CAC serves as Nigeria's primary business registration and regulatory body, maintaining the country's corporate registry and enforcing compliance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act. Any leadership disruption at the commission could affect business registration processes and regulatory oversight across Africa's largest economy.
The resolution between the Senate and CAC leadership removes a potential obstacle to the commission's 2026 budget approval, which funds its operations in company registration, beneficial ownership tracking, and corporate governance enforcement.