Business
‘80% Tenants Give Landlords Fake Names In PH’
The National Union of
Tenants of Nigeria (NUTN), has revealed that over 80 per cent of tenants living in the upland part of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, give fake names and identity to their landlords.
The Executive Secretary of NUTN, Caesar Enwefah, made this disclosure yesterday in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt.
Noting that the development was inimical to the security of the state, the union boss stressed the need for landlords to partner with security agents by ensuring that correct information on data of their tenants were considered as priority issue before giving out accommodation to any tenants.
He urged the state government to come up with a blue print whereby every landlord should provide government with details of people living in their houses, adding that such details should be subject to quarterly review.
He said, “before you accommodate any tenant, you must know where he is coming from, what he does for living, and who is bringing or recommending him. More than 80 per cent of tenants living in the upland of the Port Harcourt City give their landlords fake names”.
Enwefah who commented on the planned demolition of water fronts in the city, said that demolition did not make the criminal repent, as demolition would only dislodge them from one place to another part of the state where they may continue with their criminal activities.
He maintained that one sure way of addressing the issue was to hold landlords responsible for the tenants’ activities because they live with tenants who should intimate security agents of suspicious movements of their tenants.
Disclosing further, he said the union planned to engage with the Rivers State Government on the need for occupants of water fronts to be given adequate notice to evacuate to alternative locations as well as six-months rent free to enable them prepare to relocate in view of the prevailing economic circumstances in the country.
He blamed landlords of the waterfronts for most illegality in the area as according to him, they do not fit into the urban planning of the government and do not pay official levies or rents but collects rent from tenants.
Chris Oluoh
Business
Agency Gives Insight Into Its Inspection, Monitoring Operations
Business
BVN Enrolments Rise 6% To 67.8m In 2025 — NIBSS
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.
