Unity Bank denies holding TSA funds, says ‘we transferred balances since 2016’

The management of Unity Bank has denied accusations of holding
on to treasury single account (TSA) funds levelled by the special
presidential investigation panel for recovery of public
property.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the bank said it had
transferred all the balances belonging to ministries, departments
and agencies of government to the treasury single account held by
the Central Bank of Nigeria since 2016.

The presidential panel had earlier threatened to sue the bank
for allegedly refusing to return N7 billion saying the money
represented excess and arbitrary charges on the accounts of some
government agencies before the implementation of the TSA.

“Upon approaching the Bank in 2018 to conduct investigations on
the subject of MDAs, Unity Bank, as a responsible corporate
citizen, cooperated with the panel accordingly,” the statement
signed by Matthew Obiazikwor, the bank’s head of corporate
communications, read.

“Out of its own volition, the panel refused to admit further
documentary evidence from the Bank when it was obvious that the
Bank has no balances kept in its books for the MDAs.

“Instead, the panel suspended the investigation as apparently,
it could not fault any of the evidence presented by the Bank.

“The Panel in an earlier letter requested the Bank to accept
culpability and pay off a certain sum deemed outstanding which the
Bank objected and insisted on completing the reconciliation
exercise.

“It is therefore surprising for the SPIPRPP to turn back and
issue a statement alleging sabotage when it abandoned its sitting
and investigation midway.”

Urging customers to ignore the allegations, the bank said all
charges deducted from the accounts of MDAs are in line with the
specifications of the Bankers Tariffs which guide banking
operations in Nigeria.

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