FG to stop cash withdrawal from public accounts

The federal government says it is putting measures in place to stop cash withdrawal from the federal, states and local government accounts.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Hamman Tukur revealed this on Tuesday at a parley with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmud Yakubu.

According to the NFIU boss, “Due to 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 further stated that most cash withdrawals from government accounts including payments were often in excess of the cash withdrawal limit provided by the Money Laundering Act.

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He said this exposed innocent public servants to being liable to imprisonment.

He added that the NFIU would send an advisory to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, all governors and local government council chairmen, directing all public servants to open domiciliary and naira accounts ahead of the commencement of the policy which becomes compulsory by law.

He further said governors and local government council chairmen would need to organize training for market men and women on how to use ATM and PoS services.

In the same vein, the NFIU Chief Media Analyst, Ahmed Dikko has refuted the report that the NFIU would block federal government accounts in January 2023.