The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit has banned the Federal, State and Local Governments from cash withdrawals from government accounts.
This was announced by the director and chief executive of the NFIU, Modibbo Tukur.
Tukur said the three tiers of government have between now and March 1, 2023 to put their house in order and comply with the directive as any cash transaction from March 1 from any account belonging to the government at any level will be triggered and investigated according to the Money Laundering Act.
He however, stated that only the President has the power to grant waiver to any official.
He further said this was necessary to arrest the rate at which monies were taken out of public accounts without recourse to the money laundering laws and sometimes for corruption purposes.
Tukur said despite the introduction of the cash withdrawal limits in the country, state governments have withdrawn a total of 701 billion naira cash between 2015 till date.
Also, within the same period, the federal government withdrew 225 billion naira in cash while the local governments withdrew a total of 156 billion naira in cash within the seven-year period.
He said the NFIU had told banks and government agencies at all levels to move fully online as all transactions involving public money must be routed through the banks for the purpose of accountability and transparency.
The NFIU is an autonomous unit and the central coordinating body for the country’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing framework. LEADERSHIP
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