Udora Orizu in Abuja
The House of Representatives at the plenary yesterday passed for a second reading a bill seeking an amendment to the Bank Employees Declaration of Asset Act to ban bank employees from owning foreign accounts.
The proposed legislation entitled: ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Bank Employees, Etc. (Declaration of Asset) Act, Cap. B1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to reflect the prevailing situation in the country, and for Related Matters’, is sponsored by Hon. Abiola Shina Peller (APC, Oyo).
The bill, among others, also seeks to remove the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) as custodian of declaration forms.
Leading the debate on its general principles, Peller said the intendment of the Act, among others, is to make provisions for the declaration of assets by employees of banks operating in Nigeria, and to empower the president to extend its application to other categories of persons.
According to him, the policy behind the Act was aimed at monitoring the activities of bank employees and Customs officers to ensure that their life style reflect their earnings, and to discourage them from engaging in corrupt practices.
He also said the amendment being sought would also ensure that the process of asset declaration for Customs officers is made less cumbersome, as they would no longer be required to declare their assets to the SGF, but to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as contained in the 1999 Constitution.
The lawmaker said: “The Principal Act, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), is given the responsibility of keeping completed forms of assets declaration by employees of banks and Customs Service. Then, the SGF combines the functions of the present Head of Service of the Federation and Secretary to the Government of the Federation. So it is doubtful whether records of assets declaration were kept as prescribed by the Act.
“The amendment bill seeks to transfer this responsibility to the appropriate regulatory body of the financial institution to which the staff members concerned belong, i.e Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the bank employees; Pension Commission for employees of Pension Fund Administrators; Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for stock brokers, among others. It was also observed that the Principal Act did not prohibit employees of banks from having foreign accounts. This omission may be exploited. The amendment bill expressly prohibits employees of banks from operating foreign accounts.’’
When put to a voice vote by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase, the bill got the support of majority of the lawmakers.
