A former governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Owolabi Salis, has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to closely monitor the activities of the nation’s banks for economic recovery.
The New York-based legal practitioner and chartered accountant said the call had become expedient if the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration is meant for success. He said Nigeria was losing billions of dollars due to the unscrupulous activities of banks, especially from remittances from Nigerians in the diaspora.
“This is discouraging many Nigerians abroad from sending their monies to Nigeria, thereby negatively impacting the economy and programmes of government.
“There is no gainsaying that Nigeria has a lot of professionals cutting across diverse fields abroad. Ordinarily, this should be a major advantage for any country, as it is a major avenue to boost the economy.
“However, from my personal experience and my discussions with many Nigerians abroad, a lot of Nigerians are very reluctant to send money home because of the unscrupulous activities of some banks that impose excessive deductions on such monies. I have felt this at a personal level as five per cent of a not-for-profit venture sent to a Nigerian bank was deducted.
“This left me shocked to the marrow as there is nowhere in any part of the civilised world that such is done. I am more that sure that I am not alone because so many Nigerians abroad are discouraged by such acts and would rather keep their monies in places they are pleased with.
“Unfortunately, this impacts negatively on the nation’s economy, denying it several millions of dollars which would have provided more foreign exchange and provide jobs for millions of people.”
He commented on the anti-graft agencies. “I have argued several times since 2007 that the anti-graft agencies, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission should operate at the grassroots of public corruption rather than chasing the proceeds of corruption. Merely chasing the proceeds of corruption is an attack on the economy because the corrupt government officials will move the money from the economy. Allowing corruption to happen in government and chasing the proceeds, is also corruption on its own. Since many government officials have been raided, the public has never been fully informed what was retrieved from the raids.”
The international legal expert expressed the pleasure to hear from the new EFCC helmsman that government corruption would be pursued at the grassroots by setting up kiosks at the transportation level, saying, “that will help a lot.”