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Nigeria’s President Umar Yar’adua assured the country’s teeming bank customers that their deposits are safe and secure and promise that the federal government would do everything possible to make sure no bank is distressed or allowed to go under.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had on Friday last week sack five banks’ chief executives over what the apex bank described as gross violation of the process of issuing loans by the banks. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua said the action would lead to the sanitization of the nation’s banking sector and prevent fresh bank failures with their attendant negative effects on the national economy.

The president in a statement from the State House also assured all Nigerians that their deposits in Nigerian banks are safe as the Federal Government will continue to act in concert with the CBN to ensure that no bank is allowed to fail or become distressed.

He has already approved the injection of N420 billion into the five affected banks to ensure their continued viability and to be able to meet the demands of their respective depositors and to ensure that all necessary action are in place to ensure the stability and well-being of the country’s financial sector.

“Along with stricter supervision and regulation by the CBN, the Administration will continue to do whatever is necessary to guarantee the safety of deposits in Nigerian banks and entrench best corporate practices and better credit administration processes in the management of banks,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the President has directed all law enforcement agencies to give their fullest support to efforts by the new management teams of the five banks which have received bailout funds from the CBN to recover the huge loans, the non-servicing of which placed the banks at risk of distress.

Equally, the country’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been directed by the Presidency to ensure that all those that have collected loans from the banks are investigated and fully return the monies to the banks.

On the other hand, the new managing directors of the five banks whose management teams were axed over the weekend by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have assured their customers that they are ready to meet their respective obligations.

The CBN has, meanwhile, been working throughout the weekend, pulling all the stops to prevent a crisis of confidence in the affected banks as well as the entire industry. The apex bank has worked on key steps to protect the industry from systemic crisis in the aftermath of the shake-up in the banks.

The new chief executives of the five banks therefore said “We assure our customers that the safety of their deposits is in no doubt. Customers are requested to transact their normal businesses with the bank as the new management is committed to the safety of their deposits. We will continue to provide leading edge service delivery, which the Bank is known for.”

They also assured the banking public that there was no need to panic as the bank remains solvent with capacity to discharge its obligations to them. They added that the banks have no doubt grown to become a household name in the banking industry with rich history and culture of quality banking services.