CBN orders bank workers to declare assets

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has ordered workers in all the 19 Deposit Money Banks in the country to declare their assets. The new order was made known via a circular through the Banking Supervision Department of the CBN to all the 19 commercial banks in the country about four weeks ago.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele

Punch reports that the apex bank had given all bank officials only one week ultimatum to complete the assets declaration process to avoid clampdown.

According to the report, all commercial banks, such as Ecobank Nigeria, First City Monument Bank Limited and Fidelity Bank Plc had since complied with the directive.

The paper quoted a top official of one of the tier-1 banks as saying that, “All our staff members, from the most junior to the most senior, were asked to declare their assets through a court affidavit. It was handled by the company’s lawyer. “We were asked to declare all our assets, including developed and undeveloped parcels of land, properties, houses in Nigeria and outside Nigeria etc. We were asked to also declare everything, including power generators at home. We complied within one week.”

It was learnt that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission might soon begin the examination of the details of the assets declaration forms vis-à-vis the properties some top bankers own.

Commenting on the assets declaration, an executive director in one of the top three banks, said, “It is part of the ongoing anti-corruption crusade in the country. The Federal Government is trying to deepen the anti-corruption war in the private sector, and it is believed that the banking sector is a very critical sector. This is why the CBN has been mandated to do this.”

“The directive is from the Code of Conduct Bureau. It is an extant rule. Before now, most people have not been complying. So the CCB wrote a letter to the CBN reminding it about it. This is why the CBN had to write the banks to comply,” a top official of the apex bank told our correspondent on condition of anonymity.‎