FG eulogises Nigerian who returned N150m wrongfully paid into his account in Qatar

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, has hailed a Nigerian, Michael Jonathan Asemota, popularly known as Teddy, for his sincerity and honesty in returning QR1,502,000 ($441,127.99), about N150 million, wrongfully posted into his account in Qatar.
A statement by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the Special Assistant on Media to Dabiri-Erewa, stated that the SSA gave the commendation when she received Asemota in her office on Wednesday in Abuja.
The SSA said such rare display of honesty and sincerity from a Nigerian in the Diaspora has given the country a facelift as well as other Nigerians living in Qatar.
Dabiri-Erewa urged Asemota to continue to be a good ambassador of Nigeria and implore other Nigerians in the Diaspora to emulate the positive image he has given to Nigeria in Qatar.
She said in a letter of commendation personally signed by her and given to Asemota: “With this exceptional act of honesty, you have become a positive image for Nigerians and Nigeria in Qatar in the midst of bad news tag against Nigerians in the Diaspora.
“We are truly proud of you and urge you to continue to extol the virtues and strength of the Nigerian heritage of honesty, integrity and honour.
“Your shinning beacon serves as inspiration to the Youth of Nigeria.”
Asemota, a native of Edo State but based in Doha, Qatar, had opened an account with a cheque of QR150,200 with an undisclosed commercial bank, where he is the sole signatory of the account.
Narrating his experience to the SSA during the courtesy call in Abuja, he said: “As I got back home, I received an alert showing that a QR1,502,000 had been credited into my account by mistake instead of QR150,200.
“I went to see the manager to report the error of QR1,502,000 deposited into my account.
“After checking for confirmation, the manager gave me a warm handshake in appreciation.”
Asked why he alerted the bank about the error, Asemota said: “I knew the money did not belong to me and shouldn’t be in my account in the first place, so there were no motives and temptations to keep it.”
He advised people faced with similar situations to “immediately notify their bank to avoid any potential problems as the bank will eventually trace their mistake back to your account and withdraw the mistakenly deposited money.”
He said the singular act has given Nigeria and Nigerians positive image in Qatar in the midst of bad stories of Nigeria emanating from the country.
Asemota is an official of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar, the umbrella body of Nigerian residents in the country.