Unhappy Bank Customers: Offokaja Foundation Asks Court To Order Banking Ombudsman For Nigeria

Nigeria may soon get an independent banking ombudsman empowered with binding powers to grant relief to wronged bank customers. This is one of the pleadings of the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Nigeria to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in a recent public interest litigation suit (ECW/CCJ/APP/50/22) brought before the international human rights court.

The Plaintiffs, the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Nigeria and the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Switzerland are among other requests asking the court for:

(e) An Order compelling Nigeria to, pending the passing of the Financial Ombudsman Bill into law and the operationalization of such law, and within 3 months of judgement by this Honourable Court, operationalize an interim, independent, effective and accessible financial ombudsman service where dissatisfied consumers have the option to escalate complaints not satisfactorily resolved by the Consumer Protection Department of the CBN within 3 months of escalation to the Department under the following interim conditions:

1. There shall be an ombudsman service made up of an ombudsman board and an ombudsman office which shall be headed by an ombudsman
2. The ombudsman board shall be appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria with five members from the banks representing the banks and six non-bank members to represent bank customers, with the chairperson also being a non-bank member.
3. There shall be an ombudsman office headed by an ombudsman who shall function as the chief executive of the ombudsman office. The ombudsman shall not be a banker and shall not own shares in Nigeria’s banking sector at any time during his appointment.
4. The ombudsman board shall elect the ombudsman for a non-renewable term of 3 years, and exercise oversight on his activities on behalf of the CBN. The ombudsman board shall also approve the annual budget of the ombudsman service subject to the final determination of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The ombudsman service shall be funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
5. The ombudsman board shall not serve as an appellate body on the decisions of the ombudsman regarding complaints brought to the ombudsman office. The ombudsman board shall be appointed for a non-renewable term of 4 years.
6. In handling consumer complaints escalated to it, the ombudsman shall have the authority to pass either binding awards (determinations) or non-binding awards (suggestions). The ombudsman office shall resolve complaints based on the delegated authority passed to them by the ombudsman.
7. The ombudsman may award compensation not exceeding NGN3 million (in 2022 value) to the complainant for emotional/mental/ agony, social loss of reputation, and harassment. The ombudsman shall take into account such factors as the loss of the complainant’s business opportunities, loss of time and manhours, expenses incurred by the complainant, harassment, emotional and mental anguish suffered by the complainant while passing such award.
8. Parties that don’t agree with a binding award of the ombudsman have the option of and right to appeal by going to the court of law.
9. There shall be branches of the financial ombudsman office in all 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a Federal Capital branch in Abuja, as well as a head office at Abuja. There shall also be a website, telephone lines and social media handles to facilitate consumer access to the ombudsman service.
10. The ombudsman office shall only deal with complaints escalated to it by parties dissatisfied with a resolution by the Consumer Protection Department of the Central Bank or after non-resolution of a previously escalated complaint by the Consumer Protection Department within a timeframe of at least 3 months.
11. Except for cases of abuse of office or corruption, the ombudsman once appointed can only be removed by an unanimous vote of the non-bank members of the ombudsman board.
12. The CBN shall by use of delegated legislation form and adapt a frame of reference for the ombudsman board and ombudsman office from the aspects of the Financial Ombudsman Bill as needed insofar as non of the above conditions are derogated from in the process.
13. The Defendant’s Central Bank shall be able to change any of the above conditions by an Act of Nigeria’s Federal Legislature at any time. The Defendant’s Central Bank shall guarantee the operational independence of the interim financial ombudsman for as long as it exists. The moment the permanent ombudsman structure proposed in the Financial Ombudsman Bill is passed into law and becomes operational, it shall take over the functions of the above interim ombudsman service.