The Federal Government of Nigeria is putting measures in place to activate the stoppage of cash withdrawal from all public accounts with immediate effect.
Modibbo Hamman Tukur, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), stated this on Tuesday at a parley with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmud Yakubu.
According to Tukur, “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.”
The NFIU boss 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.
Under the new policy, public officers are to be made to open domiciliary accounts in foreign and local currencies ahead of the commencement of the new policy which follows the new Naira withdrawal policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to Tukur, the NFIU is already developing an advisory to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, state governors and local government chairmen across the country to direct all public servants in their employ to open domiciliary and Naira accounts ahead of the commencement of the policy which becomes compulsory by law.
He also said that governors and LG chairmen will also need to organise training for market men and women on how to use ATM and POS Services. Tukur also dismissed as false claims being made by uninformed persons that the NFIU would block all federal government accounts from January 1, 2023.