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| Customers besiege banks during Bank Verification Number registration exercise. Image source: Twitter |
Deposit Money Banks in
the country are lobbying the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation
to back down on the plan by the Federal Government to seize monies in the bank
accounts of customers without the Bank Verification Number, it has been learnt.
The
Punch report continues:
A
Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the forfeiture of all monies in bank
accounts owned by corporate organizations, government agencies and individuals
without the BVN.
The
forfeiture order, which was issued by Justice Dimgba Igwe, while ruling on an
ex parte application filed by the Federal Government through the Office of the
Attorney General of the Federation, is not final yet.
The
owners of the accounts had 14 days to claim ownership of same and show cause
why the amounts in them should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal
Government.
The
court also ordered the banks to advertise the accounts without the BVN in a
widely circulated national newspaper as notice to those who might have any
interest in them.
The
court gave the order on October 17 following an application that was filed on
September 28.
Justice
Dimgba adjourned until November 16 for the hearing of the substantive
application seeking the forfeiture of the sums in the accounts without the BVN.
The
judge ordered the banks to file an affidavit of disclosure before the court,
showing the names of the affected accounts, the account numbers, outstanding
balances, domiciliary accounts and the bank branches where the accounts were
domiciled.
The
court directed that the order be equally served on the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Our
correspondent gathered on Sunday that although the banks had started compiling
the lists of accounts without the BVN, they were not in a hurry to publish the
details of such accounts, especially before the November 16 scheduled for the
substantive hearing on the case.
The
executive director of one of the banks, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said, “The banks are lobbying the AGF; we hope to get them to understand why
they should not carry out such an order. This money belongs to private people.
Why will the government seize what belongs to them?
“Most
of the customers who have yet to comply have one reason or the other for not
doing so. Some are abroad; some don’t have the time to link the BVN to all
their bank accounts; some have issues relating to estate and the need to get a
letter of administration.”
The
ED noted that such an action might send a wrong signal to foreign investors and
the international community.
The
chief executive officer of a mid-size bank told our correspondent that the
government had no business asking private depositors to forfeit their funds for
failing to obtain the BVN.
The
CEO said, “If you cannot prove that the proceeds in such accounts are from
illegal sources, then it is shameful for the government to do that. Government
knows how to trace those accounts with monies that are proceeds of crime.
Government cannot just seize private funds. It will create confidence crisis
and several legal battles. We are talking to them as a group and we hope that
the government will get to understand us.
“Some
people have been outside the country for some time now. There are not enough
centres overseas to enable them obtain the BVN there. Some have issues relating
to estate. Some don’t have time to link the BVN to their bank accounts.”
Named
as defendants in the suit are Access Bank Plc, Citi Bank Nigeria, Diamond Bank
Plc, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, First
City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Heritage Bank Plc.
Other
banks are Keystone Bank, Skye Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Union Bank of
Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Zenith
Bank Plc and the CBN.
An
industry stakeholder, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, had said there was a need for the
Federal Government to give more time to enable rural dwellers to comply with
the BVN requirement.
According
to him, most of the learned bank customers have complied, and the majority of
those who have yet to comply are illiterate people dwelling in the rural
places.
He
stated that the CBN needed to communicate through local languages in order to
get the rural dwellers to comply.
“Another
category of people who have not complied are those who opened the bank accounts
with fictitious names, or those who got their money through illegal or criminal
proceeds, and will not want to come up to claim ownership of such accounts. These
people constitute the highest amount in terms of the value of the money,” he
added.
Some
bank officials said there were certain accounts that the institutions could not
link up due to names mismatch.
The
President, United Labour Congress, Mr. Joe Ajaero, faulted the court order
asking the CBN to freeze all bank accounts without the BVN.
He
said, “I do not agree with the court. The court should have taken into
consideration that most owners of those accounts have not been around to
register for the BVN, or are incapacitated to do so now.
“We
are aware that a good number of the account bearers have been out of the
country and cannot get the BVN until they return, while others have been
indisposed over the years due to severe health challenges.
“The
right thing would have been an order asking the banks to suspend the operation
of such accounts pending when the BVN will be allocated to the accounts.”
A
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe, had said though the Federal
Government should be commended for the BVN policy, it was unconstitutional for
citizens to be ordered to forfeit their money over failure to supply the
number.
Adedipe
said, “I think the objective of the BVN policy is to enable the government to
track accounts and individuals who own them. If we are serious about fighting
money laundering and financial crimes, I think that is a commendable step.
Another SAN, Mr. Seni Adio, had expressed reservation about the order, saying there was a question mark on its constitutionality.
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