As criticism continues to trail the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to limit the amount of money that can be withdrawn over the bank counter and on ATMs to N100,000 per week for individuals and N500,000 for corporations, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has weighed in on the issue.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the new withdrawal policy contradicts the law and therefore is illegal.
On December 6, the CBN announced the new policy, which also allows only N20,000 withdrawal from POS per day, as part of its broader monetary policy – directing financial institutions to start the implementation from Jan. 9, 2023.
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The new policy was announced on the heels of the redesign of N200, N500 and N1,000 notes that the apex bank rescheduled their circulation to take effect from November 23.
Both moves by the central bank have elicited both commendation and condemnation. While a section of Nigerians applaud the new CBN initiatives as possible means to curb insecurity and inflation, others, including Falana have said that the new withdrawal limit contravenes the law.
In a statement on Monday, Falana described the policy as “illegal and null” as it contravenes provisions of section 2 of the money laundering Act, 2022. He argued that section 2 of the Act, limits cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities to N5 million and N10 million, respectively.
According to him, the new CBN policy is “null and void” as long as section 2 of the money laundering Act is not amended to accommodate it.
“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,” Falana said.
“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,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele had said he has the backing of Buhari to implement the controversial policies.
Last week, the House of Representatives summoned the governor as concern grows that the new withdrawal limit may create economic headwinds for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, particularly those in the rural areas.
However, Emefiele assured that the central bank has put adequate amenities in place to ensure that the concerns are addressed.
