Fakoyejo OlalekanHuman rights lawyer, Femi Falana, said the recent cash withdrawal policy issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) contravenes Nigeria’s constitution.
The central bank had directed banks to limit cash withdrawal over-the-counter to N100,000 for individuals and businesses were restricted to N500,000.
Similarly, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, directed banks to reduce Point of Sale (PoS) and Auto Teller Machine (ATM) to N20,000 daily. The directive is expected to take effect from January 9, 2023.
CBN breached Nigerians’ right to cash withdrawal?
According to Falana, the constitution empowers individuals to make or receive cash of N5 million or N10 million for corporate organisations. He made this known in a statement titled, ‘Maximum withdrawal limit in Nigeria is N5m’
In the statement, Falana said, “It is 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:
“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.
“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 under this Act ; and (b) breach the duty to disclose information under this act by any other means.”
CBN risk lawsuit over “illegal” cash withdrawal limit
Falana and the PoS operators, Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria, have threatened to sue Emefiele-led CBN if the cash withdrawal limit isn’t withdrawn.
Speaking on the legality, Falana said the cash withdrawal policy is null and void due to the Money Laundering Act 2022, hence, Nigerians must ignore what he called “illegal announcement”.
Falana urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the central bank from releasing policies that increase economic hardship on Nigerians.
The lawyer explained that, “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.
“However, we are compelled to call on President Muhammadu Buhari 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.”
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