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The Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari has restricted cash withdrawals from all federal, state, and local government accounts on heels of inexplicable disappearance of N701bn from public accounts in eight years of his administration.
This much was announced by the Director/CEO of Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Tukur, in Abuja on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
According to the NFIU director, the ban will take effect on March 1, 2023.
He said any government official that withdraws cash from public accounts risks thorough probe by all the anti-corruption agencies: the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Police Force in collaboration with the NFIU, depending on the gravity of the situation.
All government transactions will be carried out on the basis of electronic transfer if the amount exceeds the approved daily withdrawal thresh hold by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the new monetary policy, NFIU said.
Modibbo said that under the new guidelines, only the President could give a waiver for any cash above the approved daily limit to be withdrawn for any urgent or emergency reasons.
He said: “With the implementation of this guideline, Nigeria has been taken into a non-cash economy with effect from March 1, 2023,” lamenting that despite the introduction of the cash withdrawal limits in the country, state governments withdrew a total of N701 billion cash above the N225 billion stated by the federal government while local governments withdrew N156 billion from 2015 to date.
Modibbo challenged recalcitrant government officials to run foul of the directive and see if the anti-corruption agencies would not be unleashed on them to serve as deterrence for others of their like./SHARE THIS
- Tags: PMB, Modibbo Tukur, NFIU