Fear and uncertainty have been removed and confidence returned in the banking sector, following the reversal of the Bank Verification Order (BVN) by the Federal High Court.
The Federal High Court had on October 17, ordered the 19 deposit money banks to hand over all funds in accounts without BVN to the Federal Government.
The order was reversed on Wednesday by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, who presided at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
“Having listened to all counsel on record, and with the consent of all parties represented, I hereby revise Relief 4 of the court’s order of October 17, 2017 such that the new Relief 4 shall be: ‘An interim order of the honourable court stopping all outward payments, operations or outward transactions (including any bill of exchange) in respect of the accounts, pending the linking of the accounts to a Bank Verification Number,” Dimgba said.
Speaking further, he said, “In view of the above-agreed compromise revision of Relief 4, I also hereby revoke and set aside Relief 5 of the court’s order of October 17, 2017, which provides for: “An interim order of forfeiture of the monies in the said accounts without BVN to the Claimants/Applicants being accounts with insufficient Know Your Customer guidelines, contrary to Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2011 and CBN guidelines the determination of the originating motion on notice,”.
Reacting to the development, Segun Ajibola, president and chairman in council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) said the fears created by the order have been removed and confidence of customers and bankers has been restored.
However, he said this does not remove the fact that banks should still canvas for enrollment of the BVN. Segun added that banks need to have a unit that will continue to work on BVN, also adding that resources should be devoted to this.
Ayodeji Ebo, managing director, Afrinvest Securities limited told BusinessDay by phone, that the implication of this is that funds not going out of the banks confer stability of liquidity in the banking system.
