We will restrict the volume of cash that people can withdraw over the counter.- CBN

Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has stated that the CBN will limit the amount of money that customers can withdraw from their accounts.

“You will fill out an infinite number of forms if you need to withdraw a substantial amount of cash. We will collect your data, including your BVN and NIN, so that law enforcement organizations like the EFCC and ICPC can track you and make sure you are using the money for legitimate purposes.

“In other nations, you will discover, for example in the US, you will be questioned if you withdraw $10,000 from the counter. You must complete a lot of forms. Even the utilization of the $10,000 in cash you are withdrawing will be monitored.

“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.”

He emphasized further that Emefiele maintained that as a nation, “we must work to make sure that we do things the correct way, which also places us as the leader in Africa and one of the leading countries in the world.” We need to act responsibly, and I believe it should begin right away.

“What you could only find will be people making photocopies of these notes,” Emeifele remarked in reference to the new notes. If you use the proper procedures to verify the legitimacy of a coin, like as running it under a UV light, you will discover that it cannot be faked.

“The best you will find is photocopies. What I am trying to say is that to reduce that incidence of counterfeiting or photocopying, that is why we are saying the CBN must now, without waiting every five to eight years, redesign and reissue these notes. So that those who think they can take advantage of the system by counterfeiting will know that the game is over for them.”

According to the CBN governor, out of the N3.23 trillion that was previously in circulation, N2.72 trillion was outside the bank vault.

He said, “And we will insist that those N2.72 trillion must return to the bank vault by January 31st, 2023.

“If you chose to hold it after January 31st, 2023 it will become useless in your hand. That’s all.”