By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee examining tax deductions, sundry charges and multiple bank fees imposed on civil and public servants has given commercial banks in the country four days to submit all outstanding documents relating to their charges.
The committee also insisted that the chief executives of the banks must appear in person at its investigative hearing, saying it would not accept representatives who lack proper written authorisation. 
Chairman of the Adhoc Committee, Rep. Kelechi Nwogu in hi opening remarks on Tuesday in Abuja, said the committee had been tasked with ensuring that all deductions made by financial institutions from customers’ accounts are carried out lawfully and applied appropriately.
He noted that several key institutions including the Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and all commercial banks, had been invited to provide clarity on the matter.
During the proceedings, committee members expressed concern that many banks were engaging in improper practices, highlighting unexplained deductions from the accounts of civil servants, public workers and other customers, often without evidence of proper remittance.
The Chairman and some members rejected the representative of the CEOs of GT Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and other commercial banks, as they insisted that they must appear before the panel unfailingly
He said: “You cannot appear here without an identity. We are not here on our own. We are here on the mandate of the people that elected us into parliament.
“We have resolved to meet next week Wednesday. You must submit all requested documents on or before Monday.
“We will go through all the documents and we will put you on oath.
“It will not be well if we invite you here again and you tell us the same story. We have given a deadline that any bank that failed to submit the requested documents on Monday must be sanctioned”.
Rep. Nwogu assured that the committee is not leaving any stone unturned to unravel why the commercial banks engage in spurious decudctoon of charges on their customers account.t.
