Exclusive: BVN: N2.1trn abandoned

POLITICALLY exposed persons particularly, former governors, ministers as well as public servants who served in government between 1999 to 2015 have abandoned over
N2.1 trillion in various banks across the country and would lose the monies because they have no
Bank Verification Numbers, BVN identification.
The newly discovery is notwithstanding recent court ruling vacating an interim forfeiture on account without BVN.
A highly placed source at the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC told Nigerian
Pilot Weekend that notwithstanding a recent suspension order by the court which freeze accounts without BVN identification, that there were several accounts of possibly politically exposed persons who are not willing to lay claim to such funds for fear of being quizzed and prosecuted by security agencies for stealing and embezzlement, still lodged in the various banks nationwide.
According to the highly placed anti graft operative, the current chunk of uncovered funds are been traced through previous lodgments made by the politicians their family members, companies and cronies.
The source listed apart from
Governors, former ministers, Heads of parastatals and government functionaries who have served as Chief Executives of various government establishments from the previous administrations as those on the search light.
The EFCC confidant further added that the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, Department of States Security
Service, DSS and Management of the
Banks have initiated the process of recovering the slush funds from the various banks across the country.
Meanwhile it will be recalled that a federal High court Abuja, had vacated an interim forfeiture on accounts without BVN.
The Abuja Division of the Federal
High Court varied the orders it made on October 17, which directed 19 commercial banks in the country to freeze all accounts without the Bank
Verification Numbers, BVN.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, modified part of the order that granted the Federal Government interim ownership of funds in all the non
BVN-linked bank accounts.
The variation of the BVN order was sequel to an agreement FG reached with the 19 commercial banks on
Wednesday.
In his ruling, Justice Dimgba said he was minded to “revise” the earlier orders in view of the fact that it had been posing some “practical problems”.
The court directed banks to immediately unfreeze accounts that had since been linked to a BVN after the orders were made on October 17 following an ex-parte motion that was filed by the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice,
Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN.
The court further revoked an aspect of the order which had directed an interim forfeiture of the proceeds in all the accounts without BVN pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The orders were modified on a day all the 19 commercial banks challenged jurisdiction of the high court to entertain the suit marked
FHC/ABJ/CS/911/16, which has FG and the AGF as the applicants.
Whereas FG was represented in the proceeding by Mr. Joseph Tobi, the 19 commercial banks were represented by Mr. Adeniyi Adegbonmire, SAN.
However, the Central Bank of
Nigeria which was cited as the 20th respondent in the matter was not represented by any lawyer.
Justice Dimgba noted that before unfreezing the accounts without BVN even with the account owners visiting the banks to undertake the BVN registration would have amounted to a violation of one of the orders of the court since the ruling did not make
BVN registration a pre-condition for unfreezing such accounts.
He said with the way the order was couched, the freezing order placed on such accounts would have subsisted until the case was finally determined and not by the account owner undertaking the BVN registration.
Justice Dimgba said that, that aspect of his ruling had created “awkward and unfortunate result”.
According to the Judge, “Court engaged with all counsel to understand the practical problems posed by the Order of October 17, 2017, to the extent that it provides in Relief 4, ‘An interim order of the honorable court freezing the said accounts by stopping all outward payments, operations or transactions (including any bill of exchange) in respect of the accounts pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application’.. “It was generally agreed that this relief as currently couched creates an awkward and unfortunate result such that even when parties have gone to the banks to undertake their BVN, they still will not be able to operate the accounts because doing so will be in violation of the order of court.