The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered workers in all the 19 Deposit Money Banks in the country to declare their assets. The move analysts say looks like the Federal Government is beginning to expand its ongoing anti-corruption crusade to the private sector, especially the banking industry.
The directive, which came in a letter through the Banking Supervision Department of the CBN to all the 19 commercial banks in the country about four weeks ago, gave bank officials only one week to complete the assets declaration process, sources close to the DMBs said.
As of Thursday, investigation by our correspondent revealed that all the staff members of Ecobank Nigeria, First City Monument Bank Limited and Fidelity Bank Plc had complied with the directive.
Top officials of Ecobank, Fidelity Bank and FCMB, among others, confirmed the development. The workers said there was a directive from their management asking them to comply within one week.
Narrating his experience, a top official of one of the tier-1 banks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said, “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.”
Top bank executives said the move by the apex bank was not unconnected to the Federal Government’s plans to extend its anti-corruption crusade to the private sector.
It was also gathered that fear had descended on bank workers, especially top officials whose assets were beyond their means.
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