The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has ordered First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to refund N1.54 billion to Bauchi state. The funds were deducted from the state’s loan account as interest.
The CPC says that FCMB illegally deducted the funds from state’s bank account after it hiked interest rates on an existing loan facility without communicating the decision to the state’s officials.
The bank was said to have given the loan at an interest rate of thirteen per cent but later raised it to a rate higher than twenty per cent. Nigerian banks usually include a clause in their loan agreements stating that loan interest rates are based on market conditions and can be altered without notice.