The Nigerian Central Bank has been urged by the House of Representatives to direct banks to immediately upgrade their electronic transaction platforms.
The House claims that the move is required as a result of recent CBN policies that have put pressure on online and electronic banking.
The CBN had implemented policies that shattered the country by lowering cash withdrawal limits and redesigning the N1,000, N500, and N200 notes.
At the plenary on Thursday, House member Sergius Ogun made a motion requesting that banking systems, particularly those of commercial banks and Deposit Money Banks, be strengthened and upgraded.
“Call on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Direct All Commercial Banks to Overhaul Their Online Banking Service Platforms to Ease Electronic Banking Operations” was the title of the motion.
Ogun made the motion and mentioned that the 1999 Constitution’s Sections 88 (1) and (2) grant the National Assembly the authority to investigate the activities of any authority executing or administering laws made by the National Assembly, like the CBN.
Additionally, the legislator mentioned that Section 1 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, Cap. To issue legal tender currencies in Nigeria, see C4, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. He went on to say that the bank is obligated by Section 2 of the CBN Act to promote a sound financial system in Nigeria.
He stated, “The House acknowledges that there has been an increase in the use of online and electronic banking services to carry out monetary transactions across the country in response to the recent naira redesign and cash withdrawal limit policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
“The House likewise recognizes that the utilization of on the web or web banking administrations by Nigerians in the beyond 90 days or something like that has been described by differing levels of hitches, going from fruitless electronic bank moves, Retail location administration disappointment and a large group of others.
“The House is disturbed that Nigerians have suffered untold hardship, suffering, and difficulties in the past three months due to the ineffectiveness or difficulty of using internet banking services across the online banking platforms of most commercial banks in Nigeria.”
Ogun continued, “The House is concerned that Nigerians will continue to suffer untold hardships and loss of monies due to unsuccessful electronic bank transactions if nothing is done by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commercial banks to address these difficulties or ineffectiveness.”
“Direct all commercial banks in the country to immediately overhaul their existing online/electronic banking platforms for efficiency and ease of conducting electronic banking operations,” the House resolved in adopting the motion.
In addition, the House entrusted its Committee on Banking and Currency with the responsibility of monitoring compliance with the resolutions and providing a report for further legislative action within four weeks.