Reps Summon Bank CEOs Over Alleged Illegal Deductions

The House of Representatives has ordered the Chief Executive Officersof Nigeria’s commercial banks to appear personally before its investigative panel over allegations of unlawful and unexplained deductionsfrom customers’ accounts.

The directive was issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the House Ad-hoc Committee probing tax deductions from civil and public servants’ salaries, as well as multiple bank charges.

Commercial banks routinely apply fees such as SMS alert charges, account maintenance fees, and transfer charges. However, Committee Chairman, Rep. Kelechi Nwogu, accused the banks of engaging in systematic and illegal deductions, including charges that were neither transparent nor duly remitted to the appropriate authorities.

“Commercial banks are perpetrating illegality by deducting inexplicable charges from civil servants, public servants, and other customers without remittances,” Nwogu said.

He added that the probe seeks to verify that all deductions were properly authorised, correctly calculated, and used for their intended purposes.

The committee also summoned officials of the Ministry of Finance and revealed plans to work closely with the Office of the Accountant-General, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and commercialbanks to ensure a comprehensiveinvestigation.

Lawmakers insisted that bank CEOs must appear in person, warning that representatives would not be allowed.
“You cannot appear here without an identity. We are here on the mandate of the people who elected us,” Nwogu cautioned.

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Banks were given a four-day deadline to submit all required documents, with the committee warning that failure to comply would attract sanctions.

Nwogu reiterated the panel’s resolve to uncover the reasons behind what he described as unjustified and suspicious deductions from customers’ accounts.