The federal government is set to stop cash withdrawals from federal, states and local government accounts.
The director/chief executive officer NFIU, Mr. Modibbo Tukur of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the unit’s spokesman, Mr. Ahmed Dikko.
The decision came in the wake the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) policy which fixes weekly cash withdrawal cash limits at N100, 000 for individuals and N500, 000 for corporates.
Maximum cash withdrawal at POS terminals has also been reduced to N20, 000 daily.
The policy takes effect throughout Nigeria from January 9, 2023.
Dikko said Tukur spoke during a meeting with the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu on Monday.
“The government is putting all necessary measures in place to stop cash withdrawal from federal, states and local government accounts.
“Because of the consistent devaluation of the naira and the introduction of a new naira policy, section 1 of the money laundering prohibition act is automatically activated,” Tukur said.
He said most cash withdrawals from government accounts — including payments for estacode — are often in excess of the cash withdrawal limit provided by the money laundering act.
He said this puts public servants at risk of imprisonment.
Besides, Tukur said the NFIU had already prepared recommendations to the secretary to the government of the federation, all governors, and local council chairmen, directing all civil servants to open domiciliary and naira accounts prior to the commencement of the policy.
He said governors and council chairmen will also need to organise training for market men and women on how to use automated teller machine (ATM) and point of sale (POS) services.
