[Mhiz Rebecca]

Today, the Nigerian Senate passed a resolution
calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to
suspend the excessive ATM card maintenance
charges being deducted from customers. This
resolution came as part of a motion on the
illicit and excessive bank charges on customers
accounts, sponsored by Senator Olugbenga
Ashafa (Lagos East, APC).
The Senate also called on commercial banks
operating in the country to configure their
machines to dispense up to N40,000 per
withdrawal pending the outcome of the
investigation by the Senate committees tasked
with investigating the excessive and illicit bank
charges.
Speaking on the Motion, the President of the
Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki said:
“This is a motion that affects the lives of every
Nigerian — irrespective of what part of the
country you come from or whatever political
affiliation you might have. This is why we are
here: to always defend and protect the interests
of the Nigerian people.”
The Senate President stated that the Senate
must work to ensure that the Senate’s
resolutions on the excessive bank charges goes
beyond the debate stage, so that whatever action
the Upper Legislative Chamber takes, would
come into effect.
“This Senate has done this many times before;
when there was a hike in the mobile
telecommunication data charges, we intervened
and put an end to that. When there were
discrepancies and increases in electricity
prices, we also took action. We have done this
on a number of similar cases. Therefore, on
this, I want us to take effective resolutions,”
Saraki said.
Other Senators who contributed to the debate,
called on banks to review their charges.
“The common man is also a victim,” said
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, “Banks declare
profits and you wonder where these profits are
coming from — it’s from the sweat of the
common man. Let us come up with a law that
puts banks on their toes.”
“It won’t be out of place to institute a
committee that will call on the CBN to tell us
what these charges are about. The Senate by
fiat should abolish charges if they can’t be
verified,” said Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah.
“The Senate must take a serious stand on this
issue. Nigerians are really suffering. The
banking system is not encouraging. I had an
issue, took it to the bank and was refunded but
how many Nigerians can do this? The issue
needs to be addressed,” stated Senator Kabiru
Gaya.
“For me, this is a major step that we are taking.
This is because I introduced the first ATM
machine that came into Nigeria over 25-years
ago,” the Senate President, Dr. Saraki told his
colleagues, “Now, after 25-years, we should
have grown out of these excessive charges and
moved on. So, I believe that this something
that we must address to create an environment
that protects all Nigerians, because these kind
of charges in this economy affects everyone.”
The Senate further directed its Committees on
Banking, Insurance & other Financial
Institutions and Finance to conduct an
investigation into the propriety of ATM card
maintenance charges in comparison with
international best practices and report back to
the Senate.
The Senate also directed the aforementioned
committees to invited the Governor of the CBN
to appear before it to explain why the official
charges as approved by the CBN are skewed in
favour of the banking institutions as against
the ordinary customers of the banks.
Finally, the Senate called on the Consumer
Protection Council to look into the various
complaints of excess and unnecessary charges
by Nigerian Banks.