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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued its sensitization program across the nation to the banking public based on their rights as customers of financial institution, and its various intervention policies targeted at stimulating economic growth and wellbeing of the Nigerian citizen. This time it was the turn of Lagos banking customers.
By Paschal Emeka
This is coming after the Apex Bank also held a seminar for farmers and Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SME) operators in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The programme with the theme, ‘Promoting financial stability and economic development’ focused on enlightening the public about their rights and privileges in the bank-customer relationship.
Speaking at the sensitization fair, Oludamola Atanda, principal manager, consumer protection department informed the participants of their rights and responsibilities which include the right to demand from their banks of information that would help them run their accounts. Specifically, Atanda wants the banking public to ask for any information they want from their bank, protect their personal information, always insist on knowing what the percentage of interest translates to each time they get a loan and equally know the day the lender will be debiting them. He told them to lodge a complaint or seek redress when their banks did not treat them well.
“As account holders, you have right. If you have a complaint against your bank, you must first report the complaint at the bank/branch where the issue originated and allow two weeks or less for the issue
to be resolved.
“If after lodging your complaint your bank still fails to engage you and resolve the complaint within the two weeks as provided for in the ATM help desk circular, you have the right to escalate your complaint to the consumer protection department of the CBN”, Atanda said.
Olu Vincent, Deputy Director, trade and investment department said “it is sensitization of the general public on what the CBN has been doing over the past two years to stimulate the economy and enhance economic development since the volatility in the oil price market.
It is also to diversify the economy from the oil to non-oil export based.”
He explained that there are various interventions which the CBN has put in place as part of the proactive measures of the Bank in stimulating growth of the economy. “What we are doing for now is to let the public know various policies they can leverage on for economic growth. We have interventions for real sector, power sector, aviation sector and agric sector among others,” he said. Benedict Maduagwu, Assistant Director, currency operations department, spoke on the need for the public to respect the naira because it costs so much to print a single note.
“It is a crime to hawk naira. The CBN’s stand on hawking naira is that if you hawk naira and you are caught abusing it you will pay a fine of N50,000 or six months imprisonment or both,” Maduagwu said.
