Nigeria Receives FATF Commendation for Anti-Money Laundering Progress
By Patience Ikpeme
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in implementing its Action Plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
This recognition came during the FATF plenary session held in Strasbourg, France, this week.
Nigeria’s Action Plan outlines a series of steps to enhance its measures against financial crimes. These steps include strengthening the legal framework, improving the efficiency of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), enhancing the supervision of financial institutions, boosting cooperation with law enforcement agencies, adopting a risk-based approach, fostering public awareness and training, promoting international cooperation, and ensuring robust monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
By diligently working on these areas, Nigeria aims to improve its compliance with FATF standards and secure an exit from the grey list. Regular assessments and updates to the FATF will be crucial in demonstrating the country’s effective steps to address its deficiencies.
The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) stated that this development prepares the way for an on-site assessment by the FATF Africa Joint Group. This assessment will verify that the reforms are effectively implemented, politically supported, and that the progress made is sustainable over the long term.
The NFIU also reports that significant strides have been made in conducting and updating national risk assessments, improving beneficial ownership transparency, and applying risk-based supervision across financial and non-financial sectors.
This progress, according to the NFIU, reinforces Nigeria’s determination not only to exit the greylist but also to build a resilient Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism/Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) system that enhances the integrity of its financial system and economy.
As the country moves towards the crucial on-site visit phase, all stakeholders are encouraged to maintain momentum and ensure that reforms remain deeply embedded and effective.
The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), serving as the national coordinator of the FATF ICRG process and Secretariat of the AML/CFT/CPF Inter-Ministerial Committee, extended its commendation to all stakeholders involved in Nigeria’s continuous efforts to address identified deficiencies in its AML/CFT/CPF framework.
The NFIU particularly recognized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, members of the Federal Executive Council, especially the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Minister of the Interior, and other political authorities for their role in ensuring the rapid implementation of the Action Plan.
The NFIU also congratulated the Heads of key institutions, including the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and private sector actors, whose contributions have strengthened Nigeria’s capacity to investigate and prosecute complex money laundering and terrorism financing offenses.
The NFIU further stated its commitment to providing strategic coordination and guidance in line with FATF standards to ensure full compliance and readiness ahead of the upcoming assessment.
The unit encouraged all partners to sustain this collective effort, which is vital to safeguarding Nigeria’s financial system from abuse and restoring confidence among international partners.
