Nigerian Parliament Indicts 16 Banks For Non-Remittance Of 1.6 Bln Naira Stamp Duty

Nigeria House of Representatives has indicted 16 banks for under-remitting stamp duty revenue to the tune of 1.6 billion naira and asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanction them appropriately.

The parliament also asked the CBN to ensure the banks pay the outstanding revenue back to the treasury with interests.
The banks named in the report of the House are defunct Diamond Bank, now Access Bank with 545.87 million naira; Zenith Bank, with 265.63 million naira, and Stanbic IBTC, with 231 million naira.
Others are Guaranty Trust Bank accused of withholding 196.3 million naira; Standard Chartered Bank 3.65 million naira; CitiBank 1.86 million naira; and Providus Bank 646,650 naira.
Also, Fidelity Bank is expected to refund 32.88 million naira, Keystone Bank 24.47 million naira, United Bank of Africa (UBA) 81 million naira, and Ecobank 78.52 million naira
Also indicted are Unity Bank 40 million naira, Jaiz Bank 2.43 million naira, Access Bank 66 million naira, Skye Bank 11 million naira, and Polaris Bank 2.9 million naira.
The House reached the decision after adopting the report of the ad-hoc committee which investigated the non-remittance of the stamp duties on Thursday.
Leaks.ng, a collation of media houses, had reported that the agencies refused to disclose details of the stamp duty revenue whose status has been shrouded in secrecy over the years.
Following the report, the House set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the matter and report its findings.
CBN officials had told the committee the total stamp duty revenue since January 2016 stands at 35.2 billion naira.
The House, however, called for further investigation into four banks which it said failed to honour their invitations. The banks include First Bank of Nigeria, First City Monument Bank, Wema Bank and Suntrust Bank.
Apart from penalising the 16 banks, the lawmakers also asked CBN to strengthen its supervisory role over the stamp duty revenue to ensure they are collected promptly.
It also called for machinery to allow for the recovery of under -remittances “after further reconciliation is carried out with the banks concerned.”
Other recommendations include:
– That all banks that were found not to have made full disclosure on stamp duties collections and remittances should be further investigated.
– That financial institutions, especially the deposit money banks (DMBs) should remit all collections with respect to government revenues promptly and correctly, and where remittances are not promptly done, the DMBs should be sanctioned.
– That the relevant agencies should give maximum cooperation to the School of Banking Honours (SBH) to enable it realise the goal of the assignment given to it.
– That other forms of stamp duty should be explored “to increase the revenue base of various tiers of government in accordance with the provisions of the Stamp Duty Act, 2004.