From the beginning of March, Nigerian public officers shall be barred from withdrawing money from authorities financial institution accounts, the top of the Nigerian Monetary Intelligence Unit reportedly stated. Public officers that need to be exempted from this new regulation should acquire a waiver from the Nigerian Presidency.
Authorities Employees Susceptible to Cash Laundering
Nigerian authorities employees shall be prohibited from drawing money from authorities accounts beginning on March 1, Modibbo R. Hamman Tukur, the top of the Nigerian Monetary Intelligence Unit (NFIU), has stated. The brand new rule, which reportedly applies to federal, native and state officers, seeks to deal with the excessive ranges of corruption and cash laundering in authorities.
As well as, a Reuters report stated the brand new rule in is tandem with the Nigerian authorities’s aim of attaining a cashless financial system. The report additionally quotes Tukur explaining the explanations behind this choice. He stated:
Civil servants have gotten an increasing number of susceptible to cash laundering and its predicate offences resulting from their publicity to money withdrawals from public accounts.
To help Tukur’s assertions, the report stated an evaluation by NFIU — an autonomous unit inside the Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN) — had proven that between 2015 and 2022 officers withdrew money equal to $2.45 billion from authorities accounts. A lot of the withdrawals had been above the set limits, the report added.
The CBN’s New Funds System Blueprint
In the meantime, in cases the place money is required, Tukur stated officers should apply for a waiver from the presidency. Nevertheless, this may increasingly solely be granted on a “case-by-case foundation.”
In its just lately unveiled Nigeria Funds System Imaginative and prescient 2025 doc, the CBN stated goals to “have a cashless and environment friendly digital fee system” that helps monetary companies in all sectors by 2025. To assist it obtain this, the CBN has instituted various reforms that embrace issuing newly designed naira banknotes and phasing out outdated ones.
The CBN has additionally imposed money withdrawal limits for each company organizations and people. Lately, the financial institution additionally reportedly directed banks to cease over-the-counter money withdrawals of the brand new banknotes.
Apart from limiting using money, the CBN can also be looking for to spice up using its flagging central financial institution digital forex. Nevertheless, regardless of the a number of steps taken to make the CBDC enticing to customers, Bitcoin.com Information reported in October 2022 that many Nigerians had not embraced this.
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