THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF UNILATERAL RESTRICTION OF INDIVIDUALAND CORPORATE BANKS ACCOUNTS BY DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS AND ANTI-GRAFT AUTHORITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

In recent years, the piquancy and frequency of occurrences of unilateral restrictions on banks customers' accounts, otherwise known as account freezing, has assumed a dangerous and worrisome dimension. This is usually ignited by alleged suspicious transactions in connection with such accounts. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is the grundnorm and the fons et origo (the source of all other laws) of the land. Sections 36(5) and 43 of the said constitution preserves the fundamental rights of Citizens to presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court of law and right to acquire and own moveable property anywhere in Nigeria. Ironically, the current trend of unilateral freezing of customers' bank accounts appears to be a flagrant infraction of the above fundamental rights of the citizens of Nigeria. This article therefore conducts a surgical operation of the relevant laws to assess the legality or otherwise of the current practice in the nation's financial institutions.