Economy
Okutepa, Ananaba Differ on NFIU Ban on Cash Withdrawals from Govt Accounts
By Adedapo Adesanya, Dipo Olowookere
Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Mr Jibrin Okutepa and Mr Paul Ananaba, have expressed different opinions on the recent ban on cash withdrawals from government accounts by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
While speaking on the flagship breakfast show on Channels Television, Sunrise Daily, monitored by Business Post on Friday, Mr Okutepa said he supports the ban because it would help in tracking government spending.
However, in his opinion, Mr Ananaba argued that the NFIU does not have the power to restrict the state and local governments from having access to their funds, either through cashless or otherwise.
“The NFIU does not have the powers to enforce such except it works with other agencies; standing alone, NFIU ought not to have made that statement; it should have been a joint statement [with other agencies like the EFCC, CBN],” the legal luminary said.
On Thursday, while addressing reporters, the chief executive of NFIU, Mr Moddibo Tukur, explained that from March 1, 2023, the new policy would become effective, noting that it was to curb the rate at which monies were withdrawn from public accounts in total disregard to the money laundering laws, and also to reduce corruption in public service.
He warned that any government official that withdraws cash from public accounts would risk investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the Nigeria Police Force, in collaboration with the NFIU.
“The NFIU had told banks and government agencies at all levels to go fully digital by moving online, as all transactions involving public money must be routed through the banks for the purpose of accountability and transparency.
“This is not reversible as we are only enforcing the law. As far as we are concerned, Nigeria will become a full non-cash economy by March 1, 2023, this year.
“As a consequence, any government official that withdraws even one naira cash from any public account from March 1 will be investigated and prosecuted in collaboration with relevant agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and Nigeria Police Force (NPF),” he declared.
Mr Okutepa, while commenting, said the organisation has the power to carry out this function.
“I support the position and enforcement of the provisions of the Act that set them up in order to prevent money laundering.
“I agree that no government officials should be allowed, including Governors, Ministers, presidential aides, the President himself should not be allowed to withdraw huge amounts of money,” the legal practitioner submitted.
Mr Okutepa noted that if this policy is religiously enforced, it will curb corruption, especially funds withdrawn by state governors through security votes.
“For instance, you talk about this particular thing called security votes; there is a lot of money being withdrawn under the guise of security votes, and yet, we are in a state where [we have serious security threats], and people are afraid to go to their villages,” he said.
“My fear about this law is not the intention but the ability to follow through.
“From the point of law, looking at the provisions of the law that set up the NFIU, particularly Section 1 that talked about its aims and objectives, Section 2 that created the act and Section 3 that set out the functions, [it has the power to carry out this policy].
But Mr Ananaba said, putting sentiment aside, the NFIU cannot enforce the policy alone because it has limited powers to do so.
“You want to go cashless, but does NFIU have the capacity or guarantee that the country has the technology for a totally cashless society from March 1?” he queried.
“I would have expected that the CBN and other financial institutions would be part of a coalition that will bring this to pass,” he submitted.
Speaking further, he asked, “On what basis will the NFIU give directives to states? What happens when things go wrong [and the states challenge or go against the policy]?”
“My point is that NFIU cannot go outside the laws setting it up in 20218; it does not give it the powers to regulate cash withdraw,” he emphasised
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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