A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered a temporary forfeiture of funds and freezing of accounts domiciled in 19 Banks not covered by the Biometric Verification Number (BVN). The judge also ordered the 19 banks to file an affidavit of disclosure before the court which should be deposed to by the Chief Compliance Officer of all accounts of those the orders are directed to.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba gave the order over the weekend following the application by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami. The order covers individuals, corporate bodies and government agencies without BVN across the country.
He also made a freezing order stopping all outward payments, operations or transactions in respect of the accounts, pending the determination of the suit. Details expected include the names of the accounts, account numbers, outstanding balances, domiciliary accounts and the branch/location where the accounts without BVN are domiciled.
Justice Dimgba also gave an interim order appointing a bank examiner from the Central Bank of Nigeria to scrutinise the books of any bank that fails to comply with the order. He consequently directed the publication or advertisement of the accounts without BVN for any interested persons to claim the ownership within 14 days.
He said the notice was necessary to allow the account owners show cause why the proceeds of the said accounts should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.