By Gbenga Agbana

The need to bring reprieve to depositors, Ecobank said, informed the on-going verification of the depositors of the failed bank.

The Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Mr. Offong Ambah, who spoke yesterday on his bank's acquisition of AllStates Trust Bank, explained that the management was determined not to make the depositors pass the usual tortuous road of getting back their life-time earnings.

He also said that Ecobank took over the liabilities of All States Trust Bank because it would help it to bring services closer to more Nigerians through a new branch network and relief for depositors who have lost hope of getting their money back.

Ambah said that with the acquisition, the branches of Ecobank across the country would increase to 100.

On the verification, which began last week, Ambah said: "We encourage all the depositors to begin their verification so that they can have access to their accounts. This is the first time in the financial system that acquisition is done without pain to the investors.

"It is a purchase and assumption concept, and it is done when a bank goes under in the course of business and the regulators take interest basically to take care of depositors. Then, the regulators will say look at the assets and see the ones you can take. We have taken care of all parties in the transaction. The concept is totally new and this is the firs time it would be used in the country," he said.

Speaking on what depositors of All States should do to benefit from the new arrangement, Ambah said: "I am pleased to inform you that by May 1, we had mobilised to all of the former All States Trust Bank branches nation-wide. We are therefore, using this opportunity to encourage all depositors of the former bank to begin their verification process so that they can once again have access to their accounts for normal banking transactions.

"We have provided the public through newspaper advertisements, posters and radio announcements a step by step guide to the verification and conversion process."

Ecobank recently heeded the call of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to take over deposit liabilities of any of the 14 banks that failed to meet the recapitalisation deadline last December.