 The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit has banned cash withdrawals from accounts belonging to the federal government, all its agencies and also state and local governments. The NFIU announced this would take effect from March 1, 2023, adding that any government official that withdraws cash from public accounts risks investigation depending on the gravity of the situation. Addressing journalists, the NFIU CEO Mojibo Tokus said the ban was necessary to curb the rate at which monies were being withdrawn from public accounts in flagrant disregard to the money laundering laws and sometimes for corruption purposes. He mentioned that the rate of withdrawals above the threshold from public accounts has been alarming over 701 billionaires has been withdrawn in cash from 2015 till date. When we compiled the cash withdrawals over a period of time precisely from 2015 till date, we discovered the state governments have withdrawn over 701 billion in cash with some states withdrawing up to 24 billionaires. And then we also discovered that the federal government withdrew in cash up to 225 billion while the local governments withdrew up to 156 billion. So even we are to apply the law here, all the public servants involved in these withdrawals are entitled to three years imprisonment. That's what the law said. Now it became necessary for us to direct and order the financial institutions to stop completely cash withdrawals from public accounts. We have issued an advisory to all the governors and all the local government chairmen and all the MDS in the federal government to, we give them between now and the face of March 2023 to put all facilities in place to operationalize the guidelines. So why is the bottom line? Is that on the 1st of March, if there is cash withdrawal from a government account of even if it is one Naira, we are going to trigger money laundering and corruption investigation. Any way at all. Even if there are special needs to withdraw cash from any public account anywhere, that will have to get a presidential approval.