FG Takes Action On Beneficiaries Of COVID-19 Loan Unable To Meet Deadline

THE Federal Government-owned NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NIRSAL-MFB) have placed small, medium enterprises and individuals who have defaulted in the repayment of the N544.2 billion COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) under watch.

According to NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NIRSAL-MFB), they have activated its Global Standing Instruction (GSI) and also uploaded details of all defaulting beneficiaries on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Credit Risk Management System (CRMS)  to ensure that its debtors did not access credits anywhere in the world.

Naija News understands that out of the N1.1 trillion that were facilitated by the former CBN management headed by Godwin Emefiele only a little above N546 billion was repaid.

To clamp down on the debtors, NIRSAL-MFB uploaded the beneficiaries’ details, especially the names and Bank Verification Number (BVN) on the Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) owned by CBN.

Head of Corporate Communications of NIRSAL-MFB, Halimatu Lawal, while speaking to the Nation about the GSI development, said some beneficiaries of the TCF who have left the country now find it impossible to access credits from their banks because their identities have been uploaded on the CRMS as owing NIRSAL-MFB.

“Some beneficiaries are already demanding that their names be uploaded as performing. Even those outside the country are calling in to have their names uploaded as performing debtors. They are servicing and gradually offsetting their loans,” Lawal added.

She also explained that “those who have liquidated their loans are asking for letters of non-indebtedness and their names removed from the platform.”

Lawal added that NIRSAL-MFB will “use all means to recover our money, including the GSI.”

She explained that the GSI will not touch the accounts of  “those paying pack and those who have liquidated their loans”.

According to her, “since the TCF is a loan and not a grant,  we are using GSI to pursue them when payment is due and we will only stop if the government tells us to stop.”

Lawal explained that NIRSAL-MFB, as a business concern, will not relent in its drive to recover the loans.

“NMFB-MFB is a business run purely like any other commercial bank that receives deposits and from the perspectives of the shareholders it is purely private,” she said.