A Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) has called on commercial banks to ensure compliance with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) directive to local government councils on cash withdrawal limit.
The NGO, Issuers and Investors Alternative Dispute Resolution Initiative (IIADRI), made the call in a statement in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NFIU directive to councils prohibits withdrawal of cash in excess of N500, 000 per day.
In the statement signed by its President, Mr Moses Igbrude, the NGO said that strict compliance with the directive would prevent sanctions.
NAN reports that NFIU had on May 15 announced a ban on transactions on state and local governments joint accounts.
It said that such accounts were only transitional accounts where funds should go directly to the accounts of local governments.
The NFIU, which was excised from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, set June 1, 2019, as the effective date for the ban, making it compulsory for local government allocations to go straight to their respective bank accounts.
The decision was contained in a guideline released by the NFIU after a meeting with officials of commercial banks.
The NFIU placed a limit on cash withdrawals from local government accounts to a maximum of N500,000 per day, and warned banks to ensure strict compliance.
“As a law-abiding organisation, IIADRI will always support genuine and legitimate policies and laws made for the regulation of the economy.
“We believe that this will preserve shareholders’ equity in your companies and improve your bottom-lines,” the NGO said.
IIADRI said it was borne out of a passion to entrench harmony and engender growth in the Nigerian stock market through investors and issuers’ enlightenment on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
It added that its primary goal was to protect and enhance the interest of companies and their shareholders and promote the concept of alternative dispute Rrsolution in the Nigerian capital market.
(NAN)