CBN Currency Policy Withdrawal Limit Breach Constitution, Says Rights Group  

A rights group, Rural Rights Agenda (RRA) has criticised the recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrawal and currency redesign policies.

It said the policies are in violation of the country’s Money Laundering Act, a breach of the constitution and an abuse of the rights of citizens.

In a statement signed by Victor Oroko, Philip Tanko and  Adamu Sarki – Convener, Secretary and Publicity Secretary, respectively, it maintained that there are policies the CBN cannot embark upon without legislative backing.

While saying the new transaction policy was in conflict with the Money Laundering Act which permits far more transaction volume than the recent restrictions by CBN, they argued that the President should have approached the National Assembly for necessary appropriation for the minting of the redesigned currencies.

The statement read in part: “Since the fund for the printing of the new naira notes is not captured in the 2022 budget, the President ought to have forwarded a supplementary bill to the National Assembly to enable the withdrawal of funds for the printing of the new naira notes. Without this, the printing of the new naira without appropriation by the National Assembly will ultimately end up an illegal and unconstitutional venture.”

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The group cited Section 59 of the constitution which requires “an appropriation bill or supplementary bill including any other bill for the payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation for any money charged thereon or any alteration in the amount of such payment issue or withdrawal”

The group also argued that citizens have a right to determine how they wish to withdraw and spend their money, while maintaining some rights to privacy as regards their personal accounts.

The statement also read in part: “The Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 makes it illegal for any individual to accept or make any cash payment that exceeds N5m (five million naira). This means that every cash transaction over N5m must be done via a financial institution.