The Central Bank of Nigeria had on Tuesday listed UBA as one of the nine Banks that had failed to remit the deposits of the NNPC and NLNG based on the Treasury Single Account. But, Diamond Bank had earlier issued a statement that there was no cause for alarm. FCMB fell 2.5 percent, FBN Holdings shed 1.5 percent, while Skye Bank was down 1.54 percent.
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The banks are said to be withholding a total of $2.1bn (£1.6bn) belonging to the state-owned oil company.
In the past it was easy for fraud to take place as the government did not know how many bank accounts each ministry held.
Channels TV also reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has been briefed on the breach by the banks, and they have all been ordered to move the monies to the treasury single account. “Of greater concern to us is the ability of these banks to remit these funds given the illiquidity in the market”.
The suspensions came after the central bank tightened restrictions on the flow of dollars to domestic lenders in March. That has forced the banks to delay hard-currency loan and trade repayments and increased their risk of default.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is suffering its worst financial crisis in decades as a slump in oil revenues hammers public finances and the naira. The central bank governor has said a recession is likely.
But so far trading in the official foreign exchange market has been limited as those with dollars prefer to sell them for a higher rate on the black market.
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The central bank has been selling dollars nearly daily to boost interbank trading and liquidity.
