.Demands launch of audited accounts
.Says funds owed to property of late founder
Sunday Ehigiator
Financial Trust Group has accused the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) of withholding liquidation surpluses and dividends because of the property of its late founder, William (*30*) Olateju Ajayi, for greater than 30 years following the liquidation of Financial Merchant Bank Limited and Republic Bank Limited in 1994 and 1995, respectively.
The group, in a press release yesterday, condemned what it described because the NDIC’s “prolonged and unwarranted refusal” to account for and launch the funds, demanding a direct settlement of all excellent entitlements because of the late founder’s property.
It mentioned the company had continued to withhold the funds regardless of statutory provisions requiring the distribution of residual belongings to shareholders and contributories after depositors and collectors had been totally paid.
“For over three decades, the NDIC has withheld funds rightfully belonging to the Ajayi family and associated legacy entities, despite statutory mandates requiring the distribution of residual assets to shareholders and contributories once depositors and creditors have been fully settled,” the assertion mentioned.
Financial Trust Group additional alleged that the company had failed to supply a clear, audited account of the belongings realised from the liquidation of the 2 banks, regardless of experiences indicating that depositors and collectors had lengthy been settled.
“Despite NDIC annual reports confirming that depositors and creditors of the defunct banks have long been fully satisfied, the NDIC has maintained a posture of opacity, refusing to provide a transparent, audited accounting of the asset realizations or to distribute the resulting liquidation surpluses,” it mentioned.
The group traced the dispute to the navy period, alleging that the enterprise pursuits of its late founder had been severely affected beneath the administrations of Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha.
It described Ajayi as a distinguished pro-democracy advocate and writer of The Republic, a newspaper that supported the presidential ambition of the late Chief Moshood Abiola beneath the Hope ’93 mandate.
According to the group, the navy regimes repeatedly proscribed Ajayi’s publications, focused his companies and ultimately revoked the working licences of the 2 banks.
“The Babangida and Abacha regimes repeatedly proscribed his publications, hunted his enterprises, and ultimately engineered the revocation of the banks’ operating licences in January 1994 and June 1995, even as orderly rescue and acquisition offers were underway,” the assertion added.
Financial Trust Group mentioned the extended dispute had continued to impose a burden on the household and the institutional legacy of its late founder, regardless of the contributions of the corporate to Nigeria’s monetary markets.
The group’s dad or mum firm, Financial Trust Company Nigeria Limited, marked its fiftieth anniversary in May 2026.
Founded in 1976, the corporate mentioned it holds the excellence of being the primary indigenous stockbroking agency admitted as a dealing member of the Lagos Stock Exchange.
While acknowledging current developments in Nigeria’s capital market and the Federal Government’s ambition to construct a $1 trillion financial system, the group mentioned the unresolved dispute remained a priority for accountability within the nation’s monetary system.
It known as on the NDIC administration to behave in step with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope agenda by offering a full account of the liquidation proceeds and releasing the excellent funds.
It added, “Financial Trust Group calls upon the management of the NDIC, under the Renewed Hope agenda of the Federal Government, to immediately uphold transparency, adhere to statutory obligations, and disburse all accumulated liquidation surpluses and dividends owed to the Estate of Late Otunba W.O.O. Ajayi without further delay. Justice deferred for 30 years is accountability denied. The financial regulatory framework must honor the integrity of indigenous pioneers who built Nigeria’s financial architecture.”
The NDIC couldn’t be reached for feedback as on the time of submitting this report.
