Business
Minister Tasks NDIC On Depositors’ Protection
Members of NULGE, Rivers State on protest to the Rivers State House of Assembly on the House support to the Local Government Autonomy in the Nigerian Constiution amendment. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
The Minister of State for FCT, Mr Bashir Yuguda, has called on the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to ensure continued depositors’ protection and sound financial system in Nigeria.
Yuguda made the call during the NDIC’s 25th anniversary gala night on Friday in Abuja.
According to him, the NDIC must ensure that they put in place proactive mechanisms to ensure continued depositors protection, safe and sound financial system.
Yuguda said that the falling oil price and devaluation of the naira in Nigeria was already having effect on the 2015 budget.
He said that Nigerians should come together to support the government in ensuring that the situation was contained to a minimal effect.
“It is unfortunate to note that the falling oil price has already begun to take a toll on us and the value of the naira battling to remain at a reasonable level.
“It is therefore our collective responsibility to support government and all its agencies involved.
“This is to ensure that the current situation is contained with minimal effect to the welfare of the generality of our people,” he said.
He called on the NDIC as well as other regulators to always rise up to the various challenges faced by the country.
Yuguda commended the corporation on the awards, saying it was a testament to NDIC’s commitment to excellence in the discharge of its mandate and roles as deposit insurer.
The Chairman of NDIC Board, Dr Hassan Adamu, said the corporation had risen to the various banking crises and had striven to keep abreast with the core principles of deposit insurance sector.
Adamu said that the various awards received by the NDIC had shown that the high performance by the corporation had been recognised not just locally but internationally.
He urged the staff of the corporation to rededicate themselves toward achieving NDIC ‘s mandate.
The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Mr. Jones Onyereri said that NDIC had played a very critical role in the economy of Nigeria and it would continue to do so.
“The role played by NDIC in the last financial crises cannot be overemphasised and we as a nation are grateful to it for rising up to the challenge at that time,” he said.
He said that the National Assembly was in the process of passing a new NDIC act which would allow the corporation to be more proactive in their duties.
He said that the NDIC Amendment Bill 2014 allowed them to participate actively with the CBN in monitoring the status of insured depositors in other to minimise failure of insured institutions.
On changes in the financial institutions, especially in the banking sector and risk profiles of banks and technology development, Onyereri said it was imperative that enabling laws of regulatory institutions be reviewed regularly.
Earlier, the Managing Director, NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, said the NDIC would continue to do its best to discharge their mandate so that the banking sector would continue to strive.
He commended the efforts of the people present at the dinner and the staff of NDIC on their cooperation toward moving the corporation forward.
The event was also attended by dignitaries and stakeholders in the banking sector.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
