House fails to discuss billions left unclaimed in Nigerian banks

The House of Representatives on Wednesday failed to discuss matters bordering on suspicious bank deposits detected after Nigeria’s adoption of the Bank Verification Number

Lawmakers were expected to discuss billions of naira left unclaimed in Nigerian banks because their owners had failed to register a BVN or link to existing ones where appropriate.

But the House deferred the motion after its initiator Abubakar Amuda-Kannike failed to turn up at plenary.

In a prepared motion written by Amuda-Kannike, the House said some anti-corruption agencies recently uncovered billions in trapped funds due to the introduction of BVN.

In his submission, Mr. Amuda-Kannike prayed the House to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria to work with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to investigate the suspicious funds.

But Mr. Amuda-Kannike’s absence stalled the deliberation and the potential consideration of his motion.

No new date was scheduled for a revisit.

Mr. Amuda-Kannike could not be reached for comments.

The BVN was introduced to the Nigerian banking system in 2014 as a way of checking terrorism financing and duplicitous ownership of bank accounts for fraud.