Naira Redesign: We Are Monitoring Some Governors Over Stashed Cash – EFCC Chair

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa has confirmed that the commission is monitoring three governors over stashed money.

According to Bawa, the serving governors are planning to launder stashed billions of Naira through table payment of salaries to workers.

The development is coming a few days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that the country’s currency would be redesigned to address many issues.

The apex bank disclosed that the re-designed notes would be released on December 15, adding that Nigerians have up to January 31, 2023, to deposit the old notes in banks.

Bawa in an interview with Daily Trust said some governors are planning to launder money they stashed in houses.

The EFCC Chair who failed to reveal the identity of the three governors, said two of them are from the North, while the 3rd one is from the southern part of the country.

He said intelligence has it that the three governors have concluded plans to inject the money into the system through table payment of their state workers’ salaries.

Bawa said, “Let me tell you something, the Intel that I have yesterday and I would want you to take this thing very seriously. Already, some state governors have some of this cash stashed in various houses and the rest are now trying to pay salaries in cash in their states.

“I don’t know how they want to achieve that but we have to stop them from doing that. Well, we are working, they have not paid the salaries in cash yet but it is a very serious thing.”.

He said the move is against section 2 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.

Bawa said: “The law is very clear regarding cash transactions. Anybody that is to consummate any cash transaction as an individual, if it is not through a financial institution must not be above N5million and if it is above that it is criminal for you to engage in such transaction. And for corporate entities it is N10million.

“Yes, I agree the salaries are not up to that but why are you all of a sudden, and all along you have been paying people salaries through their bank accounts and now you want to pay them in cash, what are you trying to do? They will come under a lot of guises, they are trying to do verification of officers, that is what we have gotten.”