Henceforth withdrawal of large amounts will involve filling numerous forms: Emefiele

 The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said the apex bank will henceforth apply stringent measures to ensure effective implementation of its cashless policy.

The governor said that people who will withdraw huge sums be made to fill countless forms and provide their data.

CBN governor was answering reporters questions at the State House after the unveiling of the newly redesigned naira notes by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The redesignation of the notes elicited mixed reactions when the policy was first announced but many Nigeria are beginning to buy into the new policy.

With over 80 per cent Nigerian currency out of the banking system many Nigerians believe that the action of the apex bank will prove disastrous to greedy politicians who stash away the currency in the private vaults, with some buried under ground in tanks.

 Emefiele however said that the policy was not targeting anybody or group of persons and the bank was simply doing its job.

When reminded that the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, said some governors were trying to frustrate the new policy, he simply said, “We have the laws and we will indeed be more intense in ensuring that the provisions of the law and our CBN regulations about the size and volume of currency that people can carry, or hold or withdraw, we will insist that this is done going forward.”

He was quoted in a report by Daily Trust as saying, “In other countries, in the US, you want to withdraw $10,000 from the counter, you will be interrogated, you will fill numerous forms, they will even track the use of that $10,000 cash that you are withdrawing. Or you want to withdraw £10,000 from the counter, they will refuse and if you insist, then you will fill forms.

“The problems we have had in the past is that we say this is a cash economy. There is no economy that is inbuilt thinking that it has to be cash economy. The world has moved away from predominantly cash to cashless economy. And I think Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria is prepared at this time to move towards a cashless economy.

“And that is the reason for the reissue of these notes. We will insist that cashless would be nationwide. We will restrict the volume of cash that people can withdraw over the counter.

“If you need to withdraw large volume of cash, you will fill uncountable forms. We will take your data, whether it is your BVN, your NIN so that enforcement agencies like EFCC or ICPC can follow you and be sure that you are taking that money for good purpose.”

The apex bank cautioned Nigerians against holding of the old notes, saying there was no going back on the January 31st 2023 deadline to completely render the old notes useless.

“We have to work as a country. Nigeria is the biggest country both in population and economy in Africa and we have to ensure that we do things the right way that also positions us as the leader in Africa and one of the leading countries in the world, “he said.

*We must do things right and I think it would start from today. ”