BVN Exposes Gargantuan Massive Fraud By Politicians As Billions Of Naira Abandoned In Unclaimed Banks Accounts

Nigeria’s Bank Verification Number, BVN, a biometric identification system being implemented by the Central Bank to curb or reduce illegal banking transactions in the country, has exposed gargantuan corruption, massive fraud, and has left millions of naira sitting idle in unclaimed bank accounts,  bankers told reporters.

BVN is a modern security measure in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Decree to reduce fraud in the Nigerian banking system.



Insiders in several banks in Nigeria have disclosed that many accounts with millions of naira have remained unclaimed because the owners have not come forward to link them to the bank verification number.

Every person in Nigeria can from now on only have one bank verification number generated by a central data base. Because finger prints had to be used to generate that unique number, it is practically impossible for one person to have two identities, and therefore two bank verificatikon numbers.

Many people, bankers told our reporter, who had different bank accounts in different names because of the lack of a national identity card, find themselves stuck, unable to claim money they have in different accounts in different names.

Worst for the corrupt, insiders said, the bank verification number has now exposed many people with money in many bank accounts, most of them corrupt politicians with no genuine business venture to justify the hundreds of Billions of naira in virtually all banks.

Even more damaging, they said, it has also been discovered, that many people had different bank accounts in different banks with different data, including different tribe, date of birth and employers.


To bank A, an account owner worked for a particular company, but to bank B, he was a full time staff of another company, all at the same time.

“The revelations are shocking, this country is in serious trouble,” a banker told reporters. “A lot of money may remain unclaimed,” another banker added.

At least five million bank accounts were deactivated by Deposit Money Banks operating in the country on Saturday night following the October 31, 2015 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria for bank customers to register and obtain their Bank Verification Numbers, local newspaper, The Punch reported on Monday. 

The affected customers were barred from withdrawing cash and transferring funds through Automated Teller Machines, Internet banking platforms and over-the-counter in the banking halls.

While it is an ongoing exercise and many people have besieged banking halls to register, many others are unable to claim their money or justify why they have different information from different banks or even the same bank.