Senator battles NDIC over N4.76bn Banana Island property

Senator Farouk Bello Bunza and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) are currently locked in a battle of wits over a landed property belonging to the defunct Heritage Bank located at plot 55, Zone J, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Bunza represented Kebbi Central (2003-2007). At the heart of his current dispute with the banking regulator is his purchase of the said property valued at N4.5 billion at the time he bought it from Heritage Bank in June 2024.

Documents made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday indicated that, out of the agreed sum, Bunza had paid N2.5 billion as of November 18, 2025.

The NDIC, in a letter dated November 18, 2025, signed by Ewoso A.O. and Okosun Patricia A., both Deputy Directors, acknowledged this and committed to releasing the title documents for the said property upon payment of the balance.

However, the NDIC announced an upward review of the property’s cost and the terms of payment in the original agreement.

The price was reviewed from N4.5bn and a monthly installment payment of N100 million over a 36-month period, to N4.76 billion with a monthly installment payment of N358.1 million over six months.

Subsequently, the ex-federal lawmaker approached his bankers, Coronation Merchant Bank, for a facility to offset the balance.

The bank then wrote to the NDIC for the title documents as contained in one of its correspondence.

The story took a dramatic twist at this point. The NDIC wrote another letter, signed by Assistant Director Ogono A.U., on behalf of the Director, Asset Management Development, withdrawing its earlier commitment to release the documents in question.

It asked Coronation Bank to disregard the contents of the commitment letter, noting that it did not reflect the bank’s position on the matter.

Documents made available by the NDIC on its part explained its decision to change the terms of repayment. It cited depositors’ interests in Heritage Bank (In liquidation).

The Senator reportedly declined the revised offer and made himself unavailable to receive the NDIC letter.

In a letter dated September 23, 2025, signed by Henry Fonab, Head, Legal, addressed to the Senator, the NDIC said: “…After careful consideration, the corporation regrets to inform you that it cannot ratify the contract of sale for the Lagos property after considering the interest of depositors.

“As communicated in our letter dated October 24, 2024, the sale price of N4,500,600,000 and a 36-month payment timeline are not acceptable, as this will jeopardize the efforts of the corporation to discharge its deposit protection mandate.

“In light of the foregoing, we reiterate our revised offer for the Lagos property at the reviewed sale price of N7,005,000,000 only.”

However, an agreement was later reached, and he was given six months to complete payment of the reviewed sum of N4.76 billion.

The ex-federal lawmaker was given seven days to accept the reviewed offer and terms for offsetting the balance, or to accept a refund of the monies already paid.

A source within the NDIC, who pleaded for anonymity for fear of retribution, explained that the documents the Senator and Coronation Marchant Bunza were seeking were under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The source added that, by declining to accept the revised offer of payment within the stipulated period, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the Senator to continue to lay claim to the said property.