BVN Violation: Give more time to Nigerians abroad, Dabiri begs CBN, AGF

Oluchi Okorafor, Abuja

The Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has appealed to both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to put modalities and logistics in place for Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain their own Bank Verification Number (BVN) to avoid forfeiture of their savings in their respective bank accounts.

This was contained in a statement, issued on Tuesday in Abuja by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Special Assistant Media to Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

Dabiri-Erewa implored CBN to make it possible for all Nigerians in the diaspora to have their BVN done in their countries of abode as there have been challenges in getting it before now.

The Federal Government had on the 28th September, 2017 instituted an action in the Federal High Court for the forfeiture of any balance in a bank account without a BVN.

Sequel to that, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba on Oct. 17, 2017 granted the interim order directing 19 commercial banks to file an affidavit of disclosure before the court, stating the names of the accounts without BVN, account numbers and outstanding balances within 14 days and also state why the balances in such accounts should not be forfeited to the federal government.

But Dabiri-Erewa, pleaded with the Attorney-General of the Federation to intervene in the matter as well assist Nigerians living abroad who mostly are the victims and allow them more time to comply with the BVN directive.

“I hereby appeal to the CBN to look into the challenges the Nigerians living abroad face in getting their BVN done and extend the deadline for them to get the BVN’’, Dabiri-Erewa pleaded.

The Nigerians in the Diaspora have been remitting billions of US Dollars back to the country on yearly basis, the highest on the continent of Africa, thus contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

The Presidential Aide also pleaded with the commercial banks to make the procedure easier for their customers, especially those living outside the country, to be able to meet up with the new deadline.

The present practice is that banks only permit deposits into such accounts. No withdrawal is allowed. Should the Federal Government succeed, the money would be forfeited permanently.

Although the banks may challenge the action up to the Supreme Court, Dabiri-Erewa reiterated her appeals to Nigerians abroad to urgently take steps to register for the BVN.