• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Reps move to check ‘excessive’ bank charges

National Assembly seeks self-serving budget hike amid cost-of-living crisis

The House of Representatives on Wednesday mandated its committee on banking and currency to investigate alleged excessive charges on bank transactions by Nigerian banks and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

This was sequel to the passage of the motion on “Need to investigate the imposition of excessive charges on bank transactions on deposit money banks in Nigeria moved by Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo).

Presenting the motion Ogun alleged that most of the banks imposed excessive and non-statutory charges on varying transactions carried out by customers.

He said the House was “aware that in January 2020, in the bid to, among other things, stop the indiscriminate imposition of charges by the banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a guide to charges by banks, other financial institutions and non-bank financial institutions, stating the approved bank charges to be imposed by deposit money banks.

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He said, “Despite the guide issued by the CBN, some banks still deduct outrageous amounts of money from their customers in the guise of bank charges with different descriptions.

“It is worrying that in most cases, the deductions are already covered by the CBN approved monthly Account Maintenance Fee (AMF), thus amounting to double deduction.”

In another development, the House urged the Nigerian Army, Police, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to resend their operatives recently removed from Shimfida town in Jibia local government area of Katsina, the home state of President Muhamadu Buhari.

The House also urged the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development as well as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to urgently provide relief materials to the internally displaced persons in the town.

The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Sada Soli (APC, Katsina).