House of Representatives is to investigate the excessiveness in the operations of online loan providers nationwide.
This was part of a motion by a member from Oyo State, Mr. Akin Alabi, on the need to curtail the excesses of online service providers.
Mr. Akin Alabi observed that to cushion the impact of the COVID-19, a rising number of Nigerians have resorted to digital lenders to sort out urgent financial needs as traditional financial institutions were often painstaking.
He described it as unfortunate that several lending platforms were operating outside the principles of lawful processing of personal data as required under the Nigeria Data protection regulation and other relevant provisions.
According to him, many online providers are exploiting the growing need for financial assistance to engage in unfair collection practices by subjecting Nigerians to situations where their contacts are besieged with unsolicited messages in a bid to force the borrowers to pay.
The lawmaker also expressed concern that recovery agents for the lending firms were mostly unethical methods to recover the borrowed funds from defaulting clients.
Contributing to the debate, a member from Enugu State, Mr. Amadi Denis, advised for caution on the part of the house saying there were regulatory agencies that licensed the operators.
Adopting the motion, the house mandated its committees on banking, communications, and human rights to investigate the matter and report back to the house within two weeks.
COV /TSIBIRI
