Bayelsa Assembly Gives Banks Ultimatum To Refund N26bn

The Bayelsa State House
of Assembly has given commercial banks in the state 30 days to refund N26 billion excess charges and deductions from the state government accounts.
The order followed the adoption of a motion by the chairman of the assembly committee on public accounts, Mr Tonye Isenah.
Moving the motion, Isenah said his committee investigated the transactions following public outcry over the practices of commercial banks in the state.
The lawmaker observed that the practice violated the code of ethics and professionalism in the banking and finance industry.
He said the investigations revealed that commercial banks had short-changed the state to the tune of about N26 billion from excess charges and deductions on government revenue.
Adopting the motion, the assembly directed the state ministries of finance and justice to recover the money.
It further mandated the ministries to cooperate with the public accounts committee of the assembly to audit the accounts of the state government from 1999 to 2006.
The assembly further asked the committee to extend the investigations to state ministries, departments and agencies and recover all extra charges.
Members who reacted to the revelation by the committee wondered what could be the fate of individuals if this could happen to the government.
They noted that the recovery of such huge amount could translate to the provision of social amenities for the people.
Speaking shortly after adopting the motion, the Speaker of the assembly, Mr Konbowei Benson, commended the committee for a job well done.
Benson assured the people of the state that the assembly would pursue the matter to a logical conclusion.