Nigeria seems to be heading for a diplomatic row with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a directive by the UAE’s central bank banning Nigerians who do not work there from operating accounts in any branch of their local or foreign banks.
Fidelis Mbah, a Nigerian journalist, disclosed this on Thursday May 7, 2015 with a series of tweets on his twitter handle, even as observers believe the move is partly to check money laundering activities of Nigerian politicians, a situation they say, have become common.
According to Mbah, those affected by the new policy include Nigerian politicians, students and business operators in the UAE. He claimed that UAE banks have sent out notices to some of those affected, informing them that their accounts in the country’s commercial capital have been closed without further explanation. “Some Nigerian politicians have been hiding under the pretext of paying children school fees to smuggle millions of dollars into the UAE.”
To butress the importance of the directive, al Nigerians whose accounts were closed following the policy, have been issued cheques equivalent to the amount they have in their accounts.
Also, all account holders reportedly have five working days to cash their monies or forfeit them.
Reacting, Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, told Daily Independent on phone, Thursday night, that the decision is commendable, as must have resulted from a realisation by the UAE monetary authorities that so much slush funds laundered globally flow through Dubai, a major financial hub. This, he noted, is why there is the possibility that corrupt people would want to take money from their countries and put it there before now.
He said the decision would bring sanity to the movement of funds globally, noting that the way to curb corruption is to holistically check the movement of money.
He also noted that unlike in the U.S and in Europe where it has become difficult to move money around, all attention has been on taking such funds to Dubai. But since it is becoming difficult to take the money to there now, “we should now see how they will launder it locally.
“The tighter it is for them the better for all of us,” Yusuf enthused.
Kehinde Phillip, a chartered accountant, also welcomes the development, as “it will be to the advantage of our country. Stacking money in another country will add pressure to the U.S Dollar.
“With the new measure, Nigeria will be able to conserve more foreign exchange to the benefit of its citizens,” he said.
For Anor Anyanwu, former Executive Director of Mainstreet Bank, the action would affect “those who are not clean and I believed that before such a decision should be taken, the authorities in Dubai would have done their due diligence and ‘Know-Your-Customer (KYC).
Those whose money are clean should not fear, but those involved in illegitimate activities” are the targets.
