Reps’ probe of BVN-less accounts

THE House of Representatives’ Ad-Hoc Committee on Unclaimed Funds in Nigerian Commercial Banks and Infractions by the Central Bank of Nigeria has reportedly begun the investigation of funds stuck in Deposit Money Banks, also known as commercial banks, due to the failure to link the accounts holding them to Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and the Treasury Single Account policy (TSA) of the Federal Government. According to media reports, the committee is specifically investigating the over 45 million accounts said to be holding funds amounting to over N1.2 trillion. This was a sequel to the January 26, 2022 resolution by the Green Chamber to set up the committee to investigate the “suspicious and unclaimed funds” allegedly sitting in various accounts in the commercial banks.

The House also tasked the committee with investigating the unremitted funds collected on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government by the banks, as well as “several infractions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) against the provisions of the enabling Act and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the good people of Nigeria, especially in the area of intervention projects and programmes.”

It is a good thing that the parliament is probing  the totally absurd but not surprising revelation that the directive of the Federal Government on compulsory BVN has, since 2014 when it was given, been breached by the affected account holders. Obviously, it is utter foolishness to presume that a democracy necessarily fosters transparency; steps must be taken to emplace it, and it is clear in this case that the law has not been followed. To be sure, the government ought not to have tolerated this situation for this long. But if a government can demur from revealing information concerning those who allegedly hold accounts used to finance terrorism against the country, it definitely cannot be a surprise that such a government has tolerated such hideous practices by account holders.

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The House of Representatives’ decision to probe the untoward development is definitely salutary. With the way the issue under reference has been handled up till now, it would have become clear why so many people view the Nigerian government as a grand conspiracy against the supposed givers of political mandates, the electorate. Thankfully, the legislature has chosen to do the right thing by probing the seeming conspiracy on behalf of the Nigerian people.  Just how did it happen that so many accounts with so much money but which failed to follow due process were operated in a country that has laws? Who are the owners of those accounts? Why are they still without BVN in 2022? How come this fact remained hidden for eight years? Why did the banks keep quiet for such a long time over the obvious infractions? Not only is this probe welcome, we urge the House of Representatives to do a thorough job in order to forestall  its recurrence.

It is significant that somehow, Nigeria’s parliament has found occasion to address an issue that could have an impact on good governance. This is indeed a healthy development for the whole country.