Amidst Mounting OPEX, Eight Banks’ AMCON, NDIC Expenses Hit N993.34bn
Kayode Tokede
Zenith Bank Plc and seven others Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) spent an estimated N993.34 billion as Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) expenses in 2025 amid rising operating expenses in the financial sector.
This is about 38.62 per cent increase over N716.5 billion spent by the eight banks in the 2024 financial year.
The banks are: Zenith Bank Plc, First Holdco Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Wema Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, and Access Holdings Plc.
Analysis of the banks’ audited/unaudited results for the year ended December 31 showed that AMCON levy stood at N646.88 billion, representing an increase oof 44.11 per cent increase when compared to N448.87 billion in 2024, while Deposit Insurance Premium moved from N267.65billion in 2024, up by 29 per cent to N346.46 billion in 2025.
The banking sector resolution cost represents the AMCON levy, which is applicable on the total balance sheet size of the Bank. The current applicable rate based on AMCON Act of 2015 is 0.5 per cent of total assets plus total off balance sheet assets.
Owing to the importance of the financial services sector, involving public funds, there is a need for buffers to protect public funds in case of bank failure or liquidation, hence, the need for deposit insurance.
Deposit insurance and AMCON levy are part of layers put in place to protect public funds and ensure the stability of the banking sector.
Deposit Insurance Premium is a statutory payment by deposit-taking banks that ensures that NDIC as an insurer guarantees the payment of deposits up to the maximum limit (Now N5 million) in accordance with its statute in the event of failure of an insured financial institution.
Typically, banks with the largest deposits pay the most premium to NDIC in terms of absolute numbers. However, some banks pay higher relative to their deposits based on a pricing mechanism.
THISDAY analysis showed that Access Holdings paid the highest AMCON levy, while Zenith Bank paid the highest Deposit Insurance Premium in the period under review.
According to the audited 2025FY performance, Access Holdings, with a total assets of N51.56 trillion, paid AMCON levy of N154.33 billion, up 37.5 per cent from N112.23 billion in 2024. Access Holdings paid NDIC Insurance Premium of N73.7 billion in 2025, representing an increase of 54.7 per cent from N47.67 billion in 2024.
For Zenith Bank, it paid NDIC’s premium of N77.39 billion in 2025, up by 39.1 per cent from N55.7billion in 2024, while its AMCON levy closed 2025 at N142.59 billion, about 55 per cent increase over N92.2 billion in 2024.
Further findings by THISIDAY revealed that First Holdco joined the top three Tier-1 banks to incur high AMCON and NDIC levy in 2025.
Specifically, First Holdco declared N113.36 billion AMCON levy in its unaudited results for 2025, representing an increase of 51.4 per cent from N74. 9 billion in 2024, as NDIC Insurance Premium jumped from N47.7 billion in 2024 to N67.76 billion in 2025.
AMCON was established in 2010 in a bid to stabilise the Nigerian banking system by efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of the banks in the economy.
Currently, it is being funded by a combination of loan recoveries, contributions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), sales of pledged assets, and a sinking fund assessed to the banks.
The federal government established AMCON with a 10-year mandate in response to the mounting bad loans and the requirement to prevent the banking sector’s impending collapse. The AMCON Act 2019 (Amended) gives the corporation broader authority to pursue obligors for unpaid debts.
Additionally, helping eligible financial institutions efficiently dispose of eligible bank assets in compliance with the Act’s rules is one of the key objectives of the Act.
Initially, banks were required to pay 0.3per cent of all assets into the sinking fund. In 2013 it was raised to 0.5per cent of total assets (and 0.3per cent of contingent liabilities).
Stakeholders have expressed mixed feelings over the 0.5 per cent AMCON levy on banks.
The Investment Banker & Stockbroker, Mr. Tajudeen Olayinka had in a chat with THISDAY said the operations of AMCON is long overdue.
“The fact that AMCON continues to place yearly levies on banks in the country in an endless manner, is an indication that AMCON is unable to pay its debts, and that its birth as a failure resolution option was unnecessary or absolutely misplaced at the time it was conceived.
“Those failed banks could have been better managed with more robust failure resolution options outside AMCON arrangement. And I blame the governor of CBN at that time, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, for the error,” Olayinka explained.