The House of Representatives has commenced investigations into the N1.2 trillion unclaimed funds of the Federal Government in commercial banks in the country aimed at recovering the huge cash.
Also, the House Ad-hoc Committee on Unclaimed Funds in Nigerian Commercial Banks and the Infractions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was inaugurated yesterday.
Chairman of the committee, Uniyme Idem, warned that there would be sanctions for anyone who does not cooperate with the investigation. Idem mandated the banks to submit documents that would help recover unclaimed funds in about 45 million accounts reported not to linked to Bank Verification Number (BVN).
He said commercial banks and other agencies that are sitting with these funds that are not willing to show cooperation by refunding them would be stopped from collecting revenue for the government.
Idem said: “I think this House would not have a choice but to stop you from collecting funds on behalf of the Federal Government if you don’t show cooperation. But if you do, it would be a win-win where we look at your books and then you check the one that belongs to the Federal Government and refund it appropriately. There would not be any issue.”
He continued: “This assignment is enormous, crucial and sensitive given what the country is facing economically. That is what informed the House of Representatives to mandate this all-important committee to embark on this assignment.
“We believe the outcome of it would help the country to recover very substantial of parts of the unclaimed funds that have been hanging in some of the commercial banks and other unauthorised hands.
“Money meant for the Federal Government is not supposed to sit with unauthorised hands for a very long time. Any money that was disbursed or meant for the Federation Account, if the contract had failed or was not executed, the proper thing was for it to be refunded to the same source it came from.
“But, unfortunately, whether out of oversight or deliberate, for whatever reason, so much money based on the recent discovery has been tied down somewhere. That is what informed the National Assembly, precisely the House to commence this investigative hearing.”
He said the banks would start appearing before the committee with their submissions from January 15, 2022 and urged the cooperation from them and relevant government agencies during the investigation.
