The Central Bank of Nigeria has reinstated the nine banks that were recently suspended from the foreign exchange market.
They were suspended for failing to remit about $ 2.3 billion funds of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the federal government.
The CBN Director of Banking Supervision, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, who announced the reinstatement in Abuja, Wednesday, explained that the apex bank took the decision after the banks presented repayments plans.
The CBN had about a fortnight ago suspended nine banks from further dealing in foreign exchange transactions, until they remit all outstanding Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, funds in their vaults into the Treasury Single Account, TSA.
The nine banks were barred for concealing $2.12 billion belonging to the NNPC, and failed to remit the funds into the TSA as directed by the Federal Government. The action of the apex bank, however, is seen in some quarters as contradicting an earlier circular on the issue exempting NNPC from TSA.
The circular addressed to the Director, Banking and Payments System Department of the CBN, with FD/LP2015/C/ADC/20/1/ /DF as reference number, was dated September 14, 2015. It was signed by M. K. Dikwa for the Accountant-General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Finance, Funds Department, Abuja. The banks, which were United Bank for Africa (UBA) ($530m); FirstBank of Nigeria (FBN) ($469m); Diamond Bank Plc ($287m); Sterling Bank Plc ($269m); Skye Bank Plc ($221m); Fidelity Bank ($209m); Keystone Bank ($139m); FCMB ($125m) and Heritage Bank ($85m).
UBA had kicked against its inclusion on the list, and the apex bank had announced about a day after that it had been removed from the listed of the suspended banks.
The CBN officials said further disciplinary actions awaited the erring banks after remitting the funds in full to the government’s coffers.
