Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has declared that there will be no salary for political office holders and civil servants who do not have Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).
Umahi made the declaration on Wednesday in Abakaliki while receiving a delegation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the state, led by its Branch Controller, Mr Adayi Onah.
The governor said that the measure would also affect those who provided incomplete and wrong BVN.
“Some of you that have not opened account for the first time in your lives will now open account.
“They said that Ebonyi is the least in account opening, it shouldn’t be, as all these money flowing everywhere should go in and out of banks,” he said.
He thanked the branch controller for the visit and his commendation of the state government’s modest achievements in all sectors.
“We also thank the CBN governor for his support to the state especially in agriculture which has made it rank among the leading rice producing states in the country.
“We also thank you for the several social services you provide to the people which we are aware of,” he said.
Earlier, Onah, the CBN Branch Controller said that the financial access performance across the geo- politcal zones showed that South East zone has an average exclusion rate of 29.3 per cent.
“Out of this percentage, Ebonyi has 43.6 per cent which is above the national average of 36. 8 per cent and regional average of 29.3 per cent.
“States in the zone are recording an average of between 25.4 per cent and 28.7 per cent with Ebonyi still very far at 43.6 per cent exclusion rate.
“The state has, therefore, been selected in the south east zone for a pilot exercise for account opening starting from Dec.2 to Dec.7 in all the 13 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state,” he said.
Onah pointed out that aside the banks statutory role, it has been able to evolve business practices that incorporated sustainable development into its business model that have impacted positively on the social, economic and environmental factors of the people.
“This has resulted in the renovation and construction of school blocks, water boreholes, payment of hospital bills for persons awaiting payment at Mile 4 hospital Abakaliki, aside other social responsibilities of the bank,” he said.
