Order papers sighted by online medium, TheCable showed that funds kept in accounts without Bank Verification Number (BVN) may be forfeited to the Federal Government in 10 days.
The order issued on October 17 was signed by Nnamdi Dimgba, a judge of the federal court, Abuja.
19 banks across the country were given an ultimatum of 14 days to advertise accounts without BVN in a national newspaper. During this period, owners of such accounts are expected to show cause why the money should not be forfeited.
“That the 1st-19th defendants shall disclose a) the names of the accounts as operated, b) account numbers, c) account balances d) domiciliary accounts, e) the branch/location where the accounts are domiciled of all accounts without BVN,” the papers read.
“That the 1st-19th defendant banks to disclose any investments made with funds from these accounts without BVN in any product including 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 account.
“That an order is hereby made freezing the said accounts by stopping all outward payments, operations or transactions (including any bit of exchange) in respect to the accounts pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
“An interim order of forfeiture to the monies in the said accounts without BVN to the claimants being accounts with insufficient Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines contrary to Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2011 and CBN guidelines pending the determination of the Originating Motion on Notice.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) were directed to verify the data provided.
Recall that the BVN registration exercise began in February 2014 to curb theft and fraud. Earlier in 2017, the CBN extended the registration exercise to microfinance banks and other financial institutions on the request of Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has described as illegal, the order granting forfeiture of funds in about 46 million accounts without BVN to the FG.
In a statement, at the weekend, Adegboruwa citing section 36(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and Article 7 of the African Charter, said it is not proper to determine the rights of parties in their absence.
He said the BVN is a policy decision that is not “backed by law”.
The lawyer also faulted the “bindingness” of the order on millions of bank customers who he said are not directly parties to the suit.
He said the quest to get revenue for the government should not be to the detriment of the constitutional and fundamental rights of the citizens.
“I am very well concerned about how we deploy interim orders for permanent purposes, such as to forfeit valuable assets, without any or fair hearing from the person(s) concerned,” the statement read.
