Former lawmaker, Senator Farouk Bellow Bunza, has called on the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to respect the contract it made with Heritage Bank by releasing the title documents and signing other papers relating to the transaction, including the Deed of Assignment.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja, Farouk stressed that having completed payment for the property as requested by the corporation, it has no legal right to withhold his title documents or retract an earlier agreement.

Farouk, who represented Kebbi Central Senatorial District between 2003 and 2007, said he had, in 2024, purchased a landed property valued at N4.76 billion located at Plot 55, Zone J, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos State, from the defunct Heritage Bank, for which NDIC is the liquidator.

According to him, the total sum was paid in three tranches: N833,333,303, followed by another tranche of N1,777,777,777, before the final payment of N2,148,888,888.91, made on November 20.

The former lawmaker expressed dismay that rather than conclude the contract by signing the necessary documents, NDIC, a day later, wrote Coronation Bank, through which the payment was effected, stating that the corporation could not accede to its request for an undertaking to release the original title documents or any related property documents pertaining to the said property as a condition for financing the facility for the Senator.

The corporation went further to retract an earlier letter, in which it had promised to do so upon payment of the balance sum.

“This correspondent hereby formally retracts our earlier letter on the above subject, dated November 14, 2025. Accordingly, you are advised to disregard its contents as it does not reflect the corporation’s position on the matter,” the letter addressed to Coronation Merchant Bank Limited read in part.

The economist, who worked several years in the banking sector before joining politics, said his interests and investments extend to real estate and the hospitality industry. According to him, he did not steal from the government and, as such, should not be defrauded by the system.

When asked if any reason was given by the regulating institution for not continuing with the earlier agreement, he said there was no prior explanation and wondered why such action should emanate from such a respected institution.

“This is unbelievable. Coronation relied on NDIC’s earlier undertaking to make the payment. They cannot retract it now. How is NDIC now different from an ordinary con man on the streets?

“If we were in a decent country, the Managing Director of NDIC and his underlings would have preferred resignation to issuing this retraction letter,” the former lawmaker said.

Describing the treatment meted out to him by the corporation as “banditry in high places,” Farouk held that injustice, unprofessionalism, and blatant disregard of the rule of law should not be condoned in government offices.

“The government should bring all perpetrators to justice,” he added.