Senate Asks CBN To Suspend ATM Card Maintenance Charges

The Senate has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the charges being deducted from Nigerians for the maintenance of their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

Senate President Bukola Saraki disclosed this in a Facebook post after presiding over Wednesday’s plenary.

He said, “Today, at the Senate, we passed a resolution calling on CBN to suspend the excessive ATM card maintenance charges being deducted from customers.”

“For me, this is a major step that we have taken. This is because while in the private sector, I introduced the first ATM machine, which came into Nigeria over 25 years ago.

“All these years later, I believe that we should have grown out of these exorbitant charges,” the Senate President added.

Explaining the rationale behind the passage of the resolution, Senator Saraki said it was necessary because it affects every Nigerian, irrespective of their ethnic background and political affiliation.
According to him, the resolution passed is not the first intervention of the present Senate in matters which directly affect the welfare of the citizens.

“This Senate has done this many times before; when there was a hike in the mobile telecommunication data charges, we intervened and put an end to that.

“When there were discrepancies and increases in electricity prices, we also took action,” said Saraki.
He stressed that the primary responsibility of members of the Red Chamber was to defend and protect the interests of the people they represent.

The Senate President thanked Senator Gbenga Ashafa for sponsoring the piece of legislation, and members of the chamber who contributed to the debate.