The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), has disclosed that it has so far recovered N89.2 billion excess and illegal charges slammed on customers by banks in Nigeria.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, represented by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, speaking in Calabar at a 2- day public enlightenment fair, said the amount which was as at June 2021, was based on 23,526 complaints they received from customers bordering on charges and other related matters .
The fair is targeted at keeping the public appraised and let them know the policies, programmes and economic interventions of the bank and how it benefits the people.
He stated: “We want Nigerians to know that we carry out “banking examinations” and the results show that our banks are in very good condition and our financial system is stable, resilient, safe and sound”.
“This sensitization is part of ways to engage the people to understand how our polices, programmes and interventions are affecting them and as well as create a veritable platform to discuss and understand their challenges through their responses and feedback.”
He added that the insinuations that the Apex bank was planning to convert domiciliary/ dollar accounts to naira were false and unfounded.
On the customer complaints he said, “What we do is that whenever we get these complaints, they are thoroughly investigated, if they are found to be true, the CBN makes sure that these customers are properly refunded and we have so far recovered N89 billion.”
Meanwhile, the apex bank said that Nigeria’s financial system is sound, resilient and stable contrary to rumors in unnamed quarters.
