FG Bans Cash Withdrawals From Public Accounts

The Federal Government has banned cash withdrawals from all public accounts, the Managing Director/CEO of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Hamman Tukur has said.

A statement by the agency’s spokesperson Ahmed Dikko on Tuesday said Mr Tukur revealed this at a parley with the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmud Yakubu.

He said the federal government is putting all necessary measures in place to stop cash withdrawal from Federal, States and Local Government Accounts.

The NFIU chief executive said the decision is “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.”

Mr Tukur further stated that 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. This, he said, exposes innocent public servants to being liable to imprisonment.

He said the NFIU is already developing an advisory to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, all governors and local government council chairmen to direct all public servants to open domiciliary and Naira accounts ahead of the commencement of the policy which becomes compulsory by law.

Mr Tukur said governors and council chairmen will also need to organize training for market men and women on how to use ATM and POS services.

Meanwhile, the NFIU spox has refuted the news going round that the NFIU will block Federal Government Accounts in January 2023.