House Of Reps Summon Godwin Emefiele Over New Withdrawal Policy, Call For Suspension

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been summoned by the House of Representatives over its new withdrawal policy.

Prime Business Africa had reported that the central bank instructed banks and other financial institutions to reduce withdrawal via Auto Teller Machines, Point of Sales and over-the-counter.

The directive is expected to take effect from December 9, but the lawmakers requested that the policy should be delayed pending the appearance of Emefiele before the legislature.

A member of the House, Aliyu Magaji, on Thursday, moved the motion regarding the withdrawal policy during the lawmakers’ plenary.

The house summoned Emefiele to clarify the purpose of the policy. He is expected to appear before the lawmakers on Thursday, as several members said the policy will adversely affect Nigerians and businesses.

However, Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, said the timing of the withdrawal policy is wrong, but he said it would help the central bank track funds and curb criminality in the financial system.

What you need to know about CBN’s withdrawal policy?

The central bank had directed that withdrawal at POS terminals should be reduced to N20,000 per day for individuals and N100,000 per week.

Also, over-the-counter withdrawal was reduced to N100,000 for individual, and N500,000 for businesses. This was done to reduce naira in circulation.

“The maximum cash withdrawal over the counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate organizations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,000 respectively. Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.

“Third party cheques above 50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10,000,000 on clearing cheques still subsist.”

CBN added, “In compelling circumstances, not exceeding once a month, where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits is required for legitimate purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not exceed N5,000,000.00 and N10,000,000.00 for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees in (1) above, in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements.

“Further to (6) above, you are required to obtain the following information at the minimum and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose”.