Market News

Senate President Ahmad Lawan yesterday in Abuja urged the nation's anti-corruption agencies to beam their searchlights on operations of commercial banks.

Lawan, during his investiture and induction as Patron by the Chattered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria, said: "It is not only in government agencies that we have this kind of attitude, even in private organizations.

"So, our anti-corruption agencies should go beyond looking at what the government agencies are doing, they should also look at what our banks are doing.

"Some of these banks, I don't have figures or names, a lot of times we've placed implicit trust in them, but money are diverted and accounts that have no approval of the Accountant General to be opened will be operated.

"Before the introduction of TSA, we've had stories of hundreds of bank accounts operated by some agencies but of course we know the limit the Accountant-General of the Federation has approved for agencies of government to operate."

He said findings by the National Assembly had revealed that many revenue-generating agencies under-remitted funds to the Consolidated Accounts.

He urged the federal government to explore relevant technology for the purpose of revenue collection by its agencies to prevent the diversion of public funds into private pockets.