No Nigerian Should Go To The Bank Or Use ATM On March 1 - Groups Protest

Two pressure groups – the
Consumer Advocacy
Foundation of Nigeria
(COFAN) and the Coalition
of Nigerian Consumer
Protection Associations –
have called on all
Nigerians to observe a “no
banking day” on March 1st
and avoid all forms of
banking services
nationwide.
The call to boycott banking
services was made at a
press briefing on Monday
by the president and
founder, CAFON, Sola
Salako; and founder,
Market Ombudsman, Dr.
Ope Banwo, where the
groups lamented new
charges and stamp duty
recently introduced by the
Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) which the groups
believed it is illegal.
“There should be no visit
to the Automated Teller
Machines or the banking
halls that day,” Salako
said.
The CAFON founder who
also described the new
charges as excessive, said,
“For many years now,
customers of banking
services have endured
excessive charges,
unexplainable fees and
unfair contracts that only
protect the banks but do
not protect the consumers.
“Banks debit customers’
accounts at will for
charges we never agreed
to or were not aware of;
they charge us for
everything; some banks
are charging N210 for the
use of deposit and transfer
forms in their branches!”
The groups also
complained that the CBN
has frequently
introduced banking
policies without notice
instead of doing better at
regulating the sector as
well as protecting
customers from
exploitation. They added
that it was disappointing to
see hitherto abolished fees
being reintroduced by the
CBN under new names.
Salako said, “It appears
that the banking sector is
operating a price fixing
cartel called the Bankers’
Committee superintended
by the CBN where they
determine how much to
charge for what.”
The groups also faulted the
recently introduced
maintenance fees for
current accounts and ATM
cards as well as the N50
Stamp Duty, maintaining
that the flat levy of N50 for
every transaction from
N1,000 was not equitable
and amounted to taking
from the poor to enrich
the wealthy.
“A student who receives
an allowance of N2,000
pays the same amount as a
rich man who receives a
deposit of N10m! So, the
student is technically
paying more taxes than the
rich man. That is
inequitable and unfair,”
Banwo said.