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From Ogbonnaya Ndukwe, Aba
Stakeholders in Aba, Abia State, have faulted the recent revocation of the operating licences of over 179 Microfinance Banks (MfBs) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The stakeholders, some of who are leaders and trustees of Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPADA), in a petition to President Bola Tinubu, urged him “to revisit the issue of the revocation of the operating licenses of more than 179 Micro Finance Banks, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), earlier in the year.”
In the petition dated July 26, 2023, and signed by four senior members of ALPADA, Messers Leo Nnodu Okoye, Leonard Onyemesiri, Benson Imo and Basil Okoro, made available to Daily Sun, the stakeholders said the revocation order as contained in the two official Gazettes, had negatively impacted on the lives of the promoters and staff of the affected banks, as well as the economy of the country.
The group appealed to Tinubu to review the decision, noting that over 4000 direct staff and ancillary workers of the banks as well as thousands of their dependents “now find it difficult to feed.”
The Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had at its twilight of its regime, revoked the microfinance banks and delisted them from operating as approved finance houses in two Federal Government Gazettes, numbers 93 and 94.
Nigerians across the country, especially experts in financial management services, at the time, condemned the government’s action, saying it was vindictive and aimed particularly at sending many citizens that were earning a life in the sector into the job market.
There were various suggestions on other actions the authorities could have deployed without withdrawing the operational licenses of the defaulting banks without adding to the already growing unemployment in the society.
They called for a revisit of the decision of the erstwhile leadership of the apex bank with a view to cancelling the proscription and reapproving those identified to be doing genuine business to continue.
