By Kelechi Eke

It has been confirmed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has beamed it’s searchlight on at least three serving state governors who have concluded plans to pay staff salaries with cash, as a way of expending hidden funds and evading the Naira redesign deadline.

EFCC considers this plot as money laundering and is, as a result, closely monitoring the said State governors.

Reports quoted the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, as confirming this development on Thursday.

Although Bawa did not mention the names of the governors, he reportedly told Daily Trust that two of them are from the North, while the third one is from the South.

Considering Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive to redesign the naira notes, particularly the N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes, and the early next year’s deadline for the Naira change, EFCC seems to believe that sudden decision of some governors, who have been paying salaries through banks, to pay salaries cash must be an illegal plot to launder cash and evade money redesign deadline.