Cash Withdrawal Limit: Lawyer Explains How CBN Violated Human Rights Of Nigerians

Lawyer and Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER), Frank Tietie, on Wednesday, accused the Central Bank of Nigeria of violating the fundamental right of Nigerians following its directive to financial institutions to limit cash withdrawals for individuals to N100,000 weekly and N500,000 weekly for corporate bodies.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that the CBN issued the fresh directive to enforce Federal Government’s cashless policy.

The apex bank further directed that five per cent and ten per cent processing fees be immediately imposed on individuals and corporates who intend to withdraw cash.

Reacting in a statement made available to our Correspondent, Tietie queried how such policy directive will help individuals and businesses.

He contended that the policy contravenes Nigerians’ fundamental right to own and control moveable property.

He alleged that the CBN policy amounts to controlling how people spend their monies, adding it could be counter productive for Nigerians and Nigeria.

He said that the development would encourage Nigerians to lodge their money in foreign havens to the detriment of the Nigerian economy.

His statement partly reads, ” Whereas I am in no way near being a professional economist, I claim the understanding of what constitute freedoms and civil liberties. Therefore, the mix use of cash and electronic money as we presently have, serve the interests of Nigerians better.

“One of the cardinal principles of banking is secrecy yet we were quiet when we’re about to lose it and we intimately lost it in the name of fighting fraud and corruption. But corruption and fraud not only increased after we lost banking secrecy, they became enthroned in high and low places.

“Banking secrecy guaranteed freedom and privacy. Therefore, at a time, nobody by our banking laws was permitted to know what was in another person’s account. Even law enforcement agents were restricted from inquiring into certain accounts and the banks were expressly prohibited from disclosing details of any bank account with the amounts to its credit or debit. The is law is still there but overtaken by new policies and laws which haven’t improved the system.

“Banking secrecy and not necessary safety of funds is why business people take their money and hide them in safe financial havens. No serious business man would leave his money in a banking system where every bank teller who graduated from polytechnic yesterday can easily pry into their accounts and tell his friends about how rich or poor a certain bank customer is. But those were the consequences when we imported measures to fight illicit banking operations to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and now kidnapping, without considering our peculiar situations and the need to preserve freedoms and civil liberties.

“We certainly have not contemplated much, the consequences of a near cashless society that the CBN plans to impose on Nigeria.

“For example, as a lawyer, I have had cause to witness the many times the Nigerian Police obtains exparte orders of inferior courts to block bank accounts of anybody on mere complaints by another person.

” Just for merely organising protest, some #EndSARS leaders had their accounts blocked.

“Nigerian citizens must learn and make up their minds to understand and get involved with public affairs as the future is coming faster than we thought and we don’t seem prepared.

*Have we considered how much control the authorities would have over citizens and their life when they can block bank accounts at will in a cashless economy?

“Which person or business will exercise reasonable control over their affairs with the ridiculous cash withdrawal limits the CBN intends to impose?

“We lost the right to privacy when they took away banking secrecy and we stood by. Now they want to take away the right own and control moveable property (money) and we are again standing by?

“It is about what the Nigerian people want because they own this country even though the majority of them have been made to forget that fact.

“Policy makers can’t lord over Nigerians and take away their rights on the assumption that institutions know better and always act in the public interest. That’s not often true.

“Would the Nigerian people accept these restrictions of cash by the CBN? That question is up for the National Assembly to answer on behalf of the Nigerian people.”