A former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), Monday Ubani (SAN), on Wednesday called for urgent regulation of point of sale (PoS) transactions.
Mr Ubani made the call in a statement in reaction to the spate of POS operations within the country.
He urged the government to adopt measures to ensure that the financial activities of these operators were regulated.
He said, “The POS system has, without question, revolutionised financial transactions across Nigeria, particularly in rural and underserved communities. However, this innovation is now being misused in ways that threaten our national security, financial system, and judicial integrity. Recently, I was approached by a respected judge, who expressed grave concern about the alarming rate at which PoS machines were being exploited by criminals, particularly kidnappers and fraud syndicates. According to his lordship, several cases involving untraceable financial transactions running into tens of millions of naira had come before his court.’’
Mr Ubani noted that in most of these cases, the inability to trace the flow of funds or the identities of the operators and beneficiaries had frustrated litigants, prosecutors, and even the court itself.
He said, “The convenience of PoS transactions is now being weaponized. In one harrowing incident, the family of a kidnap victim was forced to pay over ₦90 million in ransom via PoS; yet the criminal trail vanished into thin air.’’
According to him, the machines have become unregulated financial conduits, operating outside the reach of law enforcement or traceability frameworks. To safeguard our justice system and national financial integrity, decisive and urgent regulatory actions are needed,” he said.
Among others, Mr Ubani stressed the need for proper regulation of POS operations.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria must urgently issue and enforce strict regulations mandating registration, licensing, and operational procedures for all PoS operators. This should include mandatory transaction limits, geo-tagging of PoS devices, real-time monitoring, and compliance checks. Every PoS terminal and the bank accounts linked to them must be associated with the operator’s BVN and NIN. This will provide a direct line of accountability and aid law enforcement in tracing suspicious activity,” he said.
Besides, he called for a critical regulatory provision to mandate any individual seeking to withdraw or transfer funds through a PoS terminal to present verifiable means of identification.
(NAN)
