Polaris: How CBN/NDIC avoided the cost of ‘failing to act’

It was a Friday, the 21st of September, about Noon, I had received a text message from the corporate communication department of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) inviting me to a press briefing by 3pm of same day by the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele at the Lagos office. The fne imposed by the Apex bank on some bank to the tune of N5 billion was still in the air, so the first though was that some big announcement was in the air in that regards.

I arrived the CBN along other journalist from the Finance and Economy beat, all wondering what the big issue could be. We all had our theories, all drawing from recent events. We were made to wait as the governor was involved in a crucial meeting, we were told.

Some minutes after 7pm, we were ushered into the briefing area. Then we saw the Managing director of the Asset management corporation of Nigeria, Ahmed kuru seated, followed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Umaru Ibrahim and we immediately knew we were in for a big shocker.

The briefing commenced, and like a doctor who need to deliver a not so pleasant news to the relative of a sick patience, he told us that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) taken over Skye Bank and has withdrawn the operating licence of the bank.

My heart beat went from 20 to 120 in split seconds, I immediately started opening my Skye bank mobile app to transfer my ‘small change’ to a ‘safer bank’ before the briefing will end and the announcement will take full effect.

Godwin Emefiele, would then follow his announcement with an affirmative pronouncement, “in consultation with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the CBN has decided to establish a bridge bank, Polaris Bank, to assume the assets and liabilities of Skye bank,” adding that “all customers of Skye Bank shall be automatic customers of the new bank and their accounts and records duly purchased by Polaris Bank.”

By this time, I felt my temperature drop rapidly. My hands were sweating and I went on to finish that transfer, just to validate what Mr Emefiele was saying, and to be ‘double safe’.

When the same story was hosted on the daily trust website, I received a dozen call within 5 minutes with people wanting to be ‘double sure’ like me. From then on, both from the side of responsible journalism and the regulators, the damage control button was activated.

Everyone who operated a skye bank account would definitely have his or her story because banks play a crucial role in the economics and life of the citizens of every nation and that’s why it’s failure has adverse effects and is “generally considered to be of more importance than the failure of other business firms” – Wikipedia.

Banks facilitate economic sustenance, create enabling environments for businesses to thrive and grow, create job employments, helps the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of every nation, helps investors with capital, assists small medium scale enterprises, facilitate loans and more importantly warehouse a legally recognised medium of payment which is key for meeting a financial obligation.