Today, the Most Distinguished Senator Magnus Abe and twenty two other Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria tabled a very important motion on the floor of the Nigerian Senate.
The Motion titled "A Motion on the Urgent Need for the Senate to Investigate, Regularize and Amend Conflicting, Vague and Unjust Remedies which the CBN Offers to Victims of Excess and Arbitrary Bank Charges and Illegal Deductions by Commercial Banks" was read on the floor of the Senate by Senator Abe and passed by a unanimous voice vote of the Senate with an amendment proposed by Senator Dino Melaye.
The amendment, which was accepted and passed, mandated the Senate Committee on Banking to organize a public hearing on the critical issue, instead of an investigative hearing originally proposed by the movers of the Motion.
As Senator Magnus Abe eloquently stated while reading the Motion, "the CBN on the 20th of February reported that it had recovered over N 2.6 billion from depositors funds from banks as excess charges imposed on their customers. in 2015 alone, through a statement issued by the Director Cooperate Communications of CBN, the apex bank confirmed that it investigated over 6000 of such cases in 2015 alone". This unfortunate practice of over-charging customers and depositors arbitrarily and excessively by commercial banks has continued contrary to tariff stipulations, credit and monetary guidelines issued by CBN from time to time.
If this motion is followed to the letter, there will be reprieve for ordinary Nigerians who have been victims of incessant arbitrary bank charges unilaterally levied by commercial banks on their bank deposits. #portharcourtblog #portharcourt #news
