Business
Experts Hail Move To Freeze Non-BVN Accounts
Financial experts last Monday said the Federal Government’s move to freeze all accounts not covered by Bank Verification Number (BVN) would check money laundering.
The financial experts told newsmen in Lagos while reacting to the court order by the Federal Government mandating banks to freeze all individual and corporate accounts not covered by BVN.
BVN is a unique identification number that can be verified and used to transact business across all the banking platforms in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the 19 commercial banks in the country to disclose all accounts in their custody and the balances in such accounts.
The court ordered the banks to disclose the details of all such accounts, their owners and their proceeds in their affidavit of compliance deposed to by their Chief Compliance Officers.
It also made an interim order directing the banks to freeze all the said accounts by stopping “all outward payments, operations or transactions’’ pending the hearing of the substantive application seeking the forfeiture of the balances in the accounts to the Federal Government.
The banks were also directed to disclose “any investments made with funds from these accounts without BVN in any products’’.
Such investments to be disclosed by the banks as directed by the court include “fixed/term deposits and their liquidation and interest incurred, bank acceptances, commercial papers and any other relevant information related to the transaction made on the accounts’’.
Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University Keffi, Dr Uche Uwaleke, said that compliance with the court order would help to check fraudulent practices, including money laundering.
“I’m totally in support of the court order to freeze all individual and corporate accounts in commercial banks not covered by the BVN.
“It should have even been made long before now considering that the deadline issued by the CBN expired long ago,’’ Uwaleke said.
He said that operating an account without BVN violated the “know your customer’’ directive by the CBN as well as the money laundering Act.
“Why should a bank operate a non-BVN account except for fraudulent reasons?
“So, compliance with the court order will help to check fraudulent practices including money laundering,’’ Uwaleke added.
He said that it would also help to expose questionable sources of wealth such as ones from crime like kidnapping and theft of public funds.
“It will boost the government’s fight against corruption, improve the country’s image and promote investor confidence in Nigeria,’’ he stated.
Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun, Prof. SheriffdeenTella, said that all accounts by now should have BVN unless an illegal account.
Tella said that it was wrong for banks to allow transactions in such accounts within the last 18 months.
“If transactions have been taking place in such accounts within the last 18 months, the bank itself will be in trouble,’’ Tella said.
He said that it was right to execute the order to allow for forfeiture of the illegal funds.
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.