Don accuses Nigerian banks, government of exploitative charges against customers

A Nigerian academic, Professor Farooq Kperogi, has criticised the banking system in Nigeria, alleging that banks impose excessive charges on customers and operate in a manner that disadvantages account holders.

In a Facebook post shared on Monday, Kperogi argued that Nigerian banks operate in an environment where both financial institutions and the government appear to benefit at the expense of customers.

According to him, “Nigerian banks may be the only financial institutions in the world where the bank and the government form a tag team against the customer.”

He said customers are charged for almost every transaction related to their accounts. “They charge you when money enters your account. They charge you when money leaves your account. Then the banks charge you for the privilege of letting the money sit idly where you kept it. Your account is basically a toll gate,” he stated.

Kperogi also shared an example he said illustrated the problem. He recounted a story told by a friend who had opened a domiciliary account and deposited 500 dollars, only to discover years later that the money had been depleted by maintenance fees.

“A friend told me just yesterday that he once opened a domiciliary account and deposited $500 in it. Years later he returned to withdraw it. The bank informed him that the entire $500 had been consumed by ‘account maintenance’!” he wrote.

He questioned the justification for such charges, asking rhetorically, “Maintenance of what exactly? The air surrounding the account?”

The professor further argued that actions that would normally be considered theft if done by individuals are often accepted when carried out by banks.

“If a stranger took your money this way, we would call it theft. But when banks do it, we call it banking and then applaud when they announce billions in annual profits,” he said.

Kperogi added that what he finds most troubling is the level of acceptance among Nigerians regarding the charges imposed by banks.

“The saddest part is that Nigerians have made peace with this daylight corporate pickpocketing by banks,” he added.