Owners of Bank Accounts without BVN Risk Losing their Money to the Federal Government

The Federal High Court in Abuja under Justice Nnamdi Dimgba has granted a request by Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami for a temporary forfeiture of all funds held in bank accounts not linked to BVNs.

The implication of this is that if you have a bank account which you have not linked to a BVN, you risk losing all of your money to the federal government of Nigeria.

The court order is based on an originating motion of notice filed by Malami on behalf of the Nigerian government on September 28. Justice Dimgba granted all the reliefs sought by AGF who was represented by a lawyer, Usman Dakas on October 17. The court ordered all the 19 deposit money banks operating in Nigeria to release to Nigerian government names of accounts not yet connected to BVN; account numbers; their outstanding balances; domiciling locations; and domiciliary accounts without BVN and where they are domiciled. Nigeria deposit money banks that were listed as respondents in the ex-parte suit are: Access Bank, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unity Bank Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the 20th respondent in the case.

Also affected are accounts which do not have adequate Know-Your-Customer (KYC) information.

However, there might be a reprieve for people affected as Justice Dimgba also directed the banks to publish all bank accounts not linked to BVN in national newspapers with a 14-day notice for individuals with interest in such accounts to come forward and justify why their funds should not be forfeited to the Nigerian government.

So, if you are affected by this, take action to prevent your money from being forfeited.

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