Declares announcement illegal
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Nigerians to ignore the announcement of the Central Bank of Nigeria regarding the N100,000 individual and N500,000 corporate withdrawal limits per week, slammed on Nigerians.
He said the announcement is contrary to the provisions of section 2 of the Money Laundering Act 2022 and in so far as the Act is yet to be amended, remains the most valid law.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered Deposit Money Banks (DMOs) and other financial institutions to ensure that weekly over-the-counter (OTC) cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities do not exceed N100,000 and N500,000, respectively.
The regulatory directives will take effect nationwide from January 9, 2023 also limited the maximum cash withdrawal via Automated Teller Machine (ATM) per week to N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal daily.
Falana, in a statement on Tuesday, said it was embarrassing that the Central Bank of Nigeria has been making announcements without any regard to the Constitution and other relevant laws on the national economy.
“It is particularly worrisome that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has purportedly placed a limitation on cash withdrawals in Nigeria in complete defiance of section 2 of the Money Laundering Act, 2022 which provides as follows:
“2.(1) No person or body corporate shall, except in a transaction through a financial institution, make or accept cash payment of a sum exceeding (a)5,000,000 or its equivalent, in the case of an individual ; or (b) N10,000,000 or its equivalent, in the case of a body corporate.
“(2) A person shall not conduct two or more transactions separately with one or more financial institutions or designated non-financial businesses and professions with intent to (a) avoid the duty to report a transaction which should be reported underthis Act ; and (b) breach the duty to disclose information under this act by any other means.
”Since the Money Laundering Act 2022 (which has fixed maximum cash withdrawal to N5 million) has not been amended the limitation of cash withdrawal of not more than N20,000 per day and N100,000 per week fixed by the Central Bank of Nigeria is illegal, null and void in every material. We urge the Nigerian people to ignore the illegal announcement,” he said.
Falana added that “we are compelled to call on President MuhammaduBuhari to direct the management of the CBN to withdraw the illegal guideline and stop announcing more policies that are designed to sentence poor citizens to more excruciating economic hardship.”