The presidency has pledged to take concrete steps to remove Nigeria from the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list by the May 2025 deadline.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the assurance on Tuesday during a fact-finding visit to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) offices in Abuja.
Responding to a call by the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Hafsat Bakari, for high-level intervention to meet the deadline for the implementation of the FATF Action Plan, Gbajabiamila pledged the Federal Government’s resolve to address the deficiencies that led to Nigeria’s listing.
DAILY POST recalls that Nigeria was on the 24th February 2023 placed on the FATF grey list due to increasing capital inflows and inadequate measures to combat money laundering, terrorism and arms financing.
FATF is an independent intergovernmental organization that advances policies to protect the global financial system by assessing jurisdictions based on anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation (AML/CFT/P) standards.
Gbajabiamila acknowledged the progress made by NFIU in implementing 30 percent of its action plan to address identified deficiencies, stressing the need to accelerate efforts to complete the remaining tasks.
“I firmly believe that no matter how much you accomplish, one thing can ruin it all. It only takes one rotten egg to ruin everything.”
“We have nine months to get off the grey list but just being on that list is bad enough. That’s not what we want for the country.”
“So we will do whatever it takes, give us the information, give us the items we need to check off as we approach May 2025. We don’t want a fire brigade type approach as we approach May. This is a top priority,” he said.
Gbajabiamila also assured the management of the NFIU, which operates under the supervision of the Nigerian House of Assembly, that his office would continue to work with the organization to ensure it fulfills its role in protecting the Nigerian financial system from threats such as terrorism financing, money laundering, arms proliferation and other violent crimes.
“We know there is a lot of work to be done and we are here to work with you to ensure that happens and ultimately get us to where we want to be.
“During my time as Speaker of the House, I have been aware of the activities of the NFIU and the debate over where it should be based as a government entity.
“We are pleased with the independence of the authorities and we will continue to support this and also promote cooperation between the authorities,” he said.
The Presidential Chief of Staff also commended the NFIU’s efforts in implementing the recent Supreme Court interpretation on local government autonomy.
Highlighting NFIU’s achievements, CEO Bakari noted that the organization has connected more than 45 agencies onto an information-sharing platform, facilitating inter-agency collaboration.
She also disclosed that 18 State Internal Revenue Services have collaborated to enhance domestic revenue mobilisation for local governments, while collaboration has been established with Federal Government agencies including FIRS, NCC, NITDA, Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Authority and other revenue agencies.
“One of the major projects we have launched is implementing the currency network framework following the recent Supreme Court ruling on local government financial autonomy,” Bakari said.
“This will enable the government to ensure that available resources make an impact on the people.”
She noted that in addressing FATF-related challenges, the NFIU has committed significant human and financial resources to address identified deficiencies.
She added that criminals’ use of technology is expanding, especially in cybercrime and cryptocurrency, and new hardware and software must be continually upgraded to combat evolving threats.
“Capacity building is essential to stay ahead of the changes in financial crime methods and typologies,” she said.
Gbajabiamila also visited the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the National Climate Change Council (NATCCC) as part of his ongoing work with agencies under the supervision of the State House of Assembly.
