Daily Trust

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Malam Sanusi Lamido has  ordered  three  unnamed  banks    to  refund  over  N4  billion   said  to  have been illegally  collected  from  the Edo  State  government.  He  has therefore directed  CBN  officials to deduct at source, proven illegal deductions by commercial banks from  the  excess  charges on  COT  and  other  charges over deducted  from the state government.

Sanusi said it was wrong for the banks to continue to hold on to the said deduction even after it had been directed to pay the money. He gave the directive yesterday in Benin based on a complaint by the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, that about N4 billion was illegally deducted at source by some  commercial banks and written directives by the apex bank for such money to be refunded to the state had not been obeyed.
Sanusi, who was at the Edo Government House  on a courtesy visit said he was in the state to attend the annual conference organized for finance correspondents of newspapers across the country, saying since the concerned commercial banks were yet to obey the directive of the CBN, officials of the bank should debit them at source and write them.

Oshiomhole while commending the courage of the CBN governor on reforms in the banking sector, said his administration was committed to reviving the tax system in the state which he said had gone a long way in boosting the financial standing of his administration.  He urged the people to defend the changes going on in the country’s economy “otherwise changes will not occur and even if they occur they could easily be reversed. You have shown that there is a lot of room for reform”.