Economy
Whistle Blowing: Banks Monitor Workers
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerian banks have placed their workers under close watch following intense pressure by ‘big’ customers on majority shareholders and directors to monitor overzealous staff eager to take advantage of the whistle blowing initiative of the Federal Government.
Account Officers from different banks told our correspondent the development was to prevent them from squealing on classified accounts by perceived looters and corrupt government officials.
One of them, who confirmed the development off-record yesterday, said: “The close monitoring is very intense now as everyone now watches each other’s back.”
But a Senior Account Manager in one of the commercial banks in Lagos, who also pleaded not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said the development was not new.
He however admitted it has been increased lately.
According to him, “Monitoring of bank workers is not new but it may be true we are more closely monitored today than what obtained before the introduction of the whistle blowing initiative.
“That is understandable because there is the feeling amongst the top management that some overzealous workers, in a bid to take advantage of the initiative, may embarrass genuine prime customers.
“This may account for introduction of measures to ensure no staff abuses his or her office to the detriment of the bank.
“Besides this internal precaution, bank staff members and indeed banks are closely monitored by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in a bid to recover looted funds,” he said.
Explaining how bankers are being monitored, the top banker said: “Today, bank workers are closely monitored in two ways; officially and unofficially.
“Officially, we are monitored by regulators like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“There are also internal measures to ensure that bank members of staff do only what they are supposed to do.
“This may differ from bank to bank. The practice is real though I cannot say here that such measures were introduced because the so-called big customers are mounting pressure on directors.
“Perhaps, because the anti-corruption agencies know that bank workers occupy sensitive positions that may enable them to collude with public funds looters, they are today monitored more closely than politicians.”
Another top bank worker at the Corporate Headquarters of one of the commercial banks in Lagos Island, who also pleaded not to be named, gave our correspondent a more precise description of how government agencies and bank management monitor workers in banks.
“Recently, we were asked to fill Assets Declaration Forms. With this, they are able to monitor the progress rate of each staff.
“Of course you know that with BVN, everybody’s accounts can be traced easily. Even if a banker has ten accounts in different banks, it would be easy to trace them.
“In anticipation of false claims of sudden financial windfalls, they have also banned bank workers from betting. This means that no banker, found with suspicious huge sums of bank balance or assets he cannot ordinarily acquire with his income can claim to have become a billionaire overnight through betting.”
The banker also explains that the regulators have set out certain guidelines that will help monitor workers and the banks themselves.
“One of the policies currently employed to achieve this is the directive that all of us must regularly make Suspicious Transaction Report (STR).
“Another is the requirement to report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Nigerian arm of the global Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) domiciled within the EFCC.
“These are part of the official monitoring procedures in practice today. It is perhaps the increasing demand to abide by these requirements that some workers are referring as undue monitoring,” he said.
Efforts to get the confirmation of the CBN could not yield result as the Acting Director of Communication of CBN, Mr Isaac Okoronkwo, neither picked his calls yesterday nor responded to our text message.
But Chief Iheanacho Uko, a former banker and Principal Partner of U & A Consulting Ltd, said there is nothing strange with banks monitoring the activities of their staff.
Quoting the “general guidelines on institutional policy of anti-money laundering/ combating,” he said there is nothing wrong with banks initiating internal measures to ensure their staff behave appropriately because “every financial institution is required to adopt policies stating its commitment to comply with AML/CFT obligations under the law and regulatory directives and to actively prevent any transaction that otherwise facilitates criminal activity or terrorism.”
“Every financial institution is requested to formulate and implement internal controls and other procedures that will deter criminals from using its facilities for money laundering and terrorist financing and to ensure that its obligations are always met.”
http://thenationonlineng.net/whistle-blowing-bank-workers-close-watch/
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange gained 1.75 per cent on Wednesday, July 15, pushing the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 74.20 points to 4,316.51 points from 4,242.31 points, as the market capitalisation added N44.54 billion to finish at N2.590 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N2.546 trillion.
During the session, there was an 11.5 per cent rise in the value of transactions at midweek to N72.7 million from the preceding session’s N65.2 million, as there was a 3.7 per cent growth in the number of deals to 28 deals from the previous session’s 27 deals, while the volume of securities slumped by 64.5 per cent to 4.9 million units from 13.7 million units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended as the most active security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, with the second spot occupied by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc after selling 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and the third position was taken by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which exchanged 74.3 million units for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative yesterday, as there were two price gainers and three price losers.
11 Plc added N22.36 to its value to close at N250.00 per share versus N227.64 per share, and CSCS Plc improved by N7.95 to N90.35 per unit from N82.40 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.37 to end at N150.00 per share versus N151.37 per share, UBN Property Plc depreciated by 6 Kobo to N1.75 per unit from N1.81 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc dropped 1 Kobo to close at N2.49 per share versus N2.50 per share.
