How 8 banks withheld N700m overpaid to former Airways workers

…Ex-Airways workers to picket banks

Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo

Office of the Accountant General of the federation is at the loggerheads with not less than eight major banks operating in the country, as the financial institutions have illegally withheld over N700 million mistakenly paid into the accounts of some former workers of the Nigeria Airways by the Federal Government. According to information, gathered, the unprofessional attitude of the banks has created tension between them, the Accountant General’s office and the former workers of the defunct national carrier. The N700 million represented the extra money that was mistakenly paid into the account of some of the former workers who were paid twice by the government after the verification exercise carried out on them before the government approved the payment of the N22 billion being the part payment of the N45 billion they were expected to receive as their final entitlements for working at the defunct airline. All efforts made by the Accountant General and the National Union of Pensioners (NUP), representatives of the workers to make the banks refund the money to the Accountant General’s office which was the original source from where the money was paid into the accounts of the affected workers in the various banks failed as the banks refused to return the overpaid money. Rather than return the money honourably, the banks have been accused of illegally trading with the money. The eight banks affected include the First Bank which is said to be in possession of the lion share of 80 per cent of the money in question. Other banks include Diamond, Fidelity, Polaris, Zenith, Stanbic and Ecobank. While the eight banks failed to comply with the gentleman agreement to refund the money, few others are said to have voluntarily returned the money mistakenly paid into the accounts. The banks that have fully refunded the money are Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), Keystone Bank, Standard Chartered, Unity and United Bank for Africa (UBA). While the office of the Accountant General was said to be unhappy with the banks, the union representatives of the former airline workers have given the banks one-week ultimatum which ends this week to return the money to government warning that if they fail to comply that they will picket the bank’s first thing next Monday. The refusal of the banks to refund the money is said to be slowing down the ongoing payment of the last batch of the former workers their own entitlements.