Abuja, Aug. 28, 2024 – The federal government will ensure Nigeria’s removal from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) before the deadline in May 2025.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the President, made the promise in Abuja on Tuesday during a visit to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) as part of his ongoing engagements with agencies under the supervision of the State House.,
The FATF has place Nigeria on its grey list since Feb. 24, 2023 due to rising capital inflows and shortcomings in combating money laundering, terrorism, and arms financing.
FATF is an independent intergovernmental 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 said Nigeria had made substantial progress toward the removal from the FATF grey list as it had implemented over 30 per cent of the requirements from the removal from the list.
“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.
“I know there’s 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’m glad to see the agency’s independence, and we’ll continue to support it, as well as promote interagency cooperation,” he said.
Gbajabiamila commended the NFIU for its commitment to implementing the recent Supreme Court interpretation regarding local government autonomy.
Hafsat Bakari, the Chief Executive of NFIU, said the NFIU had deployed significant human and financial resources to address identified deficiencies to meet FATF’s requirements.
She said extensive use of technology by criminals, particularly in cybercrime and cryptocurrencies, also required continuous upgrade of NFIU’s new hardware and software to combat these evolving threats.
“Capacity building is essential to staying ahead of evolving methods and typologies of financial crime,” she said.
Bakri said the NFIU was fostering inter-agency cooperation, connecting over 45 agencies to its intelligence-sharing platform.
“One of the key projects we have commenced is the implementation of a monetary network framework following the recent Supreme Court judgement on the fiscal autonomy of local governments,” Bakari said.
“This would enable the government to ensure that resources made available have an impact on the citizens.”
