Human Rights Lawyer, Ebun-Olu
Adegboruwa, has slammed the Nigerian government’s order granting forfeiture of
funds in accounts without bank verification number (BVN).
Nnamdi Dimgba, a judge of the
Federal High Court, Abuja had granted the directive to CBN and commercial
banks last week following an application by Abubakar Malami, attorney-general
of the federation (AGF).
But in a statement, Adegboruwa
citing section 36(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and Article 7 of the
African Charter, said it was not proper to determine the rights of parties in
their absence.
He said the BVN was a policy
decision that was not “backed by law”.
The lawyer also faulted the
“bindingness” of the order on millions of bank customers who he said are not
directly parties to the suit.
“I am very well concerned about
how we deploy interim orders for permanent purposes, such as to forfeit
valuable assets, without any or fair hearing from the person(s) concerned,” the
statement read.
“I think it is improper to obtain
interim orders to freeze bank accounts of estates that are in dispute between
the beneficiaries, of estates of deceased persons that are still being
contested, of profits of companies that are still subject to litigation or
other disputes, just to mention a few examples of the arbitrariness of these
orders.
“There is nothing in section 3 of
the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011, that makes BVN a condition
precedent for operating a bank account in Nigeria. Nothing at all. What the law
requires is verifiable identity of the customer, such as name, address,
photographs, identity cards, etc. BVN is policy decision of the Central Bank of
Nigeria and a court of law should not base its orders on executive policies
that are not backed by law.
“I get truly worried with the way
we adopt ex-parte applications to determine very serious and weighty issues of
law.
“The other point is the
bindingness of an ex-parte order upon the whole world and upon all millions of
bank customers in Nigeria, who are not directly parties to the suit. How proper
is it, for a court to seek to determine the rights of parties in their absence,
in view of the clear provisions of section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution and
Article 7 of the African Charter.
“Why this desperation, if one may
ask? I support that money suspected to be proceeds of crime should be traced,
isolated and forfeited if the owner cannot successfully account for it. But to
proceed to seek to forfeit all monies in all banks meant for all customers in
Nigeria, on the ground of absence of BVN is manifestly illegal.
“I therefore humbly urge the
honourable attorney-general of the federation to review this case with a view
to tempering the tenor of these rather outlandish orders.
“The quest to scoop revenue for
government should not be at the detriment of the constitutional and fundamental
rights of the citizens. Which is why I have been praying that these orders are
not real, but rather one of the usual social media gimmicks” he added.
I pray by placing a curse on everyone who are causing pains to the innocent, hardworking Nigerians home and abroad. They will will never have peace and the almighty God will destroy all they have in their presence. I say again, peace will delude them and their families. Bastards. Here is my story, I travelled abroad to better my life, one getting here, my father kept on advising and encouraging me to invest in Nigeria and I listened as an obedient son. As you all know, it is not easy at all for anyone to make money abroad. I bought shares from First bank and other banks and even Donlop. About 13M naira disappeared. I felt I must have done something to God to be punished like that. But I checked myself and found nothing serious, yet I asked for forgiveness. I have accounts with few dollars and now they want to take away my little change again. I pray, all the involved will never witness peace. I live in Prince George, B.C. and they told me to go to Toronto to do BVN, it took me 2 flights to get there and I spent about 11 hours to arrive in Toronto. Only to be told that the place was no more in operation whereas they said, I should go there. Bad people. They put only one center in Canada. I am ashamed to call myself a Nigerian. All the leaders should bury their heads in shame. Because they don't know God talk less of fearing God. I told First bank that I wanted to close my account and so that I can have my money refunded and they said 'no'. Can you believe this? Now I see that they don't care. And I have since stopped doing anything in Nigeria. The lesson I learnt is that, don't do anything with where you don't live in. It is dangerous. Why can't they make few centers available in Canada that will be accessible to people. What kind of human beings are Nigerians. It is shameful and sad.
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