Presidency pledges to remove Nigeria from FATF grey list

• Lauds NFIU’s commitment to LG autonomy

The Presidency has vowed to take concrete steps to ensure Nigeria’s removal from the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list before the May 2025 deadline.

Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the assurance, yesterday, during a fact-finding visit to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) office in Abuja.

Responding to a request from the Director and Chief Executive Officer of NFIU, Hafsat Bakari, who sought high-level intervention to meet the FATF action plan implementation deadline, Gbajabiamila pledged the Federal Government’s determination to address the deficiencies that led to Nigeria’s inclusion in the list.

On February 24, 2023, Nigeria was placed on the FATF Grey List due to rising capital inflows and shortcomings in combating money laundering, terrorism and arms financing.

FATF is an independent inter-governmental organisation that promotes policies to protect the global financial system by evaluating jurisdictions based on their Anti-Money Laundering/ Counter-financing of Terrorism and Proliferation (AML/CFT/P) standards.

Gbajabiamila, who acknowledged the progress made by NFIU, which has implemented 30 per cent of the action plan to address identified deficiencies, stressed the need for accelerated efforts to complete the remaining tasks.

“I am a firm believer that no matter how much you achieve, one thing can destroy everything you have achieved. One rotten egg can spoil the whole basket. We have nine months left to exit the Grey List, and even being on that list is bad enough. That is not what we want for our country.

“Therefore, we will do everything we need to do because May 2025 is around the corner. You must furnish us with the information and the boxes that we need to tick. We do not want a fire-brigade approach because May is around the corner; this is a high priority,” he said.

The CoS also assured the management of NFIU, which operates under the supervision of the State House, of continued collaboration with his office to enable the organisation fulfil its role in protecting Nigeria’s financial system from threats such as terrorism financing, money laundering, arms proliferation and other violent crimes.

“I know there is much to be done and we are here to collaborate with you to ensure that; so that, ultimately, we can get to where we are supposed to be.

“I do understand the workings of NFIU from my time as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the discussions of where to domicile you as an agency of government. I am glad to see the agency’s independence, and we will continue to support it, as well as promote inter-agency cooperation,” he said.

He commended the agency for its commitment to implementing the recent Supreme Court interpretation regarding local council autonomy.

Highlighting NFIU’s achievements, Bakari noted that the agency fostered inter-agency cooperation, connecting over 45 agencies to its intelligence-sharing platform.

She disclosed that 18 state revenue agencies had been connected to boost domestic revenue mobilisation in sub-national governments, while collaborations with Federal Government agencies, including Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), have been established.

“One of the key projects we have commenced is the implementation of a monetary network framework following the recent Supreme Court judgment on the fiscal autonomy of local governments,” Bakari said. “This would enable the government to ensure that available resources have an impact on the citizens.”

Addressing FATF-related challenges, the NFIU boss pointed out that NFIU deployed significant human and financial resources to address identified deficiencies.

She added that the expanding use of technology by criminals, particularly in cybercrime and cryptocurrencies, requires continuous upgrade of new hardware and software to combat these evolving threats.

“Capacity building is essential to stay ahead of evolving methods and typologies of financial crime,” she said.

Gbajabiamila also visited the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the National Council on Climate Change (NATCCC) as part of his ongoing engagements with agencies under the supervision of the State House.