• Banks have proven terrifically complicit in the cash haul by public officials

We wager that until the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, designs a more methodical approach to banking supervision, the country will continue to lose funds to public officials who are keen to dip their hands into public treasury. The manner huge sums of money amounting to billions of naira are reportedly spirited away by officials who are charged with the common wealth is evidence that the apex bank must tighten the noose on the deposit money banks under its watch.

Recent reports emanating from the on-going graft investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have shown how persons either working alone or in concert have managed to take out huge sums from the tills of ministries, departments and agencies.

Just a few examples from last week will suffice. First, the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.) is said to have returned cash of about N2.3 billion. His wife, Omolara, also paid back about N381 million. A total of about N4 billion in cash and assets is said to have been recovered so far from the couple.

It is noteworthy that most of these cash recoveries are through bank drafts, which means that these huge sums have been lodged in banks.

About 17 bank accounts holding billions of naira have also been traced to Amosu’s predecessor, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.).

Reports from various pension schemes also paint a scenario of a free-for-all hauling of funds which could not be possible without the connivance of banks. Nelly Mayshak, director-general, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and her co-conspirators are fingered for N2.5 billion alleged fraud by the EFCC. The case of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force Team is still pending. He, in collaboration with others, is accused of having helped himself with over N2 billion.

Over 37,000 ghost workers have been detected on the payroll of the Federal Government, the EFCC announced last week. “This figure will definitely increase as we unravel more ghost workers buried deep in the Federal Civil Service payrolls,” says, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, EFCC chair.

It had been said that about N2 billion may be saved monthly from curbing the activities of the so-called ghost workers but the point we stress here is that most of these fairies get paid through the banks. Even after the introduction of various biometric devices and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) in the banks, it remains difficult to track shadowy persons posing as workers in the various ministries, departments and agencies.

Since most civil servants draw salaries through the banks and the policy of know-your-customer (KYC) subsists, there should never be one case of ghost worker. But such heinous crime persists because heads of MDAs working in cahoots with the banks, compromise the system. In this age of biometrics, it is only ghosts created and bred by officials that may not be detected through the financial system.

Apart from the KYC policy, banks are mandated to report lodgments and withdrawals above certain thresholds, both in individual and corporate accounts, to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). This department of the police is also expected to receive an automatic alert when such ‘abnormal’ transaction happens.

And we ask: with all these seeming foolproof measures, how has it become possible for public funds to be diverted easily from the coffers of government to individual bank accounts without any alarm raised?

We aver therefore that apart from the CBN stepping up its regulatory procedures in this regard, (it can impose heavy sanctions against any bank aiding money laundering), the situation reflects what appears like a total collapse of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF). By a simple review of the transactions in MDAs, this office would have spotted the undisguised and rampant purloin of the nation’s treasury. This suggests that government must rebuild institutions fast.

Deposit money banks must act deliberately to clean up their acts in the face of current mind-boggling revelations. As a crucial arm of the country’s equally crucial financial matrix, they must operate not just for profit, but with enormity of public conscience in mind.