Reasons a customer can sue bank in Nigeria

The challenges faced by bank customers in Nigeria have surged since the country’s financial sector witnessed one of its worst periods as a result of the naira redesign policy.

To make matters worse, complaints to any of the bank's channels do not bring immediate reprieve as this may take from seven to 30 days.

According to Oluwatodimu Ige, the principal partner at Oluwatodimu Ige and Associates, there are five proven occasions a customer has the constitutional right to sue their financial institutions instead of going through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The lawyer made this known via his Instagram page where he explained the different instances.

When the bank withholds your funds or denies you access to your funds without a valid court order.
When there is a failed and incomplete transaction and the money debited from your account is not refunded within a reasonable time.
When the bank makes substantial withdrawals from your account (different from SMS alerts) to credit another person or for any other purpose without your consent.
When the bank fails to give value to a cheque or any withdrawal instruments when you have funds in your account.
When your data as a bank customer is breached due to the bank's negligence.

How you can resolve a bank conflict before going to court

The CBN, in 2022, issued a guideline on how to lodge a complaint against financial institutions under its supervision such as Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMBs) and Merchant banks.

A dissatisfied customer must first complain about the bank/branch where the issue originated and then allow two weeks for the issue to be resolved.

Where this is not resolved within the stipulated two weeks or 30 days (as the case may be) as stipulated in the ATM Help Desk circular, the customer then has the right to report the complaint to the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) of the CBN.