Chief executive officers of Nigeria’s commercial banks have been summoned to appear in person before an investigative panel of the House of Representatives over alleged illegal and unexplained deductions from customers’ bank accounts.
The directive was issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the House Ad-hoc Committee probing tax deductions from civil and public servants’ earnings, as well as other bank charges.
Commercial banks currently apply numerous charges such as SMS alerts, account maintenance fees, and transfer charges, but lawmakers say many of these deductions are neither transparent nor properly accounted for.
Chairman of the committee, Rep. Kelechi Nwogu, accused banks of engaging in systemic and unlawful deductions without clear remittances to the relevant authorities.
“Commercial banks are perpetrating illegality by deducting inexplicable charges from civil servants, public servants and other customers’ bank accounts without remittances,” Nwogu said. He stressed that the panel aims to ensure that all bank-imposed charges are properly authorised, accurately calculated, and duly remitted.
According to him, the committee will also scrutinise the utilisation of revenues generated through such deductions.
No proxies Allowed
Nwogu insisted that the summoned banks must be represented strictly by their chief executive officers and not delegates or lower-level officials. “You cannot appear here without an identity. We are here on the mandate of the people that elected us,” he said.
The panel gave all banks a four-day deadline ending Monday to submit relevant documents ahead of another meeting scheduled for next Wednesday.
The committee has also invited the Ministry of Finance and plans to work with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and other regulatory institutions.
Nwogu assured that the House will “leave no stone unturned” in uncovering what it describes as unjustified and spurious deductions from bank accounts belonging to civil servants and other Nigerians.
