Nigeria prepares for financial assessment, trains 100 experts

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in collaboration with the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and SecFIN Africa, has commenced a capacity-building programme for 100 experts to strengthen Nigeria’s preparation for its forthcoming third-round Mutual Evaluation on anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF).

The five-day training holding in Abuja, is aimed at equipping members of Nigeria’s Mutual Evaluation Working Groups (MEWG) with the requisite knowledge and skills ahead of the national Mock Mutual Evaluation Exercise scheduled for November 2026.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, disclosed this at the opening of the programme, stressing that Nigeria must demonstrate not only the strength of its laws and institutional frameworks but also their effectiveness in practice.

“Nigeria must be ready to not only explain its laws, policies and institutional arrangements, but also to demonstrate the results they deliver.

“This workshop builds on our successful exit from the FATF Grey List in October 2025 and reflects our continued commitment to strengthening the integrity of our financial system,” she said.

The Director-General of GIABA, Mr. Mam Cherno Jallow, said a common understanding of the mutual evaluation methodology and credible evidence of implementation were essential to Nigeria’s preparations.

Represented by Director of Evaluations and Compliance, Giwa Siman Sechap, he noted that mutual evaluation was a collective national responsibility, requiring countries to demonstrate tangible results beyond technical compliance with international standards.

“Beyond technical compliance, countries must demonstrate that their systems are delivering results,” Sechap said, adding that the training would strengthen the knowledge, coordination and practical readiness required to present an evidence-based account of Nigeria’s efforts.

Also speaking, SecFIN Africa’s Country Representative, Professor Shehu Abdullahi, emphasised the need for sustained capacity development and effective collaboration among relevant institutions.

He said successful preparation depended on institutions working together, sharing reliable information and taking collective ownership of national priorities.

Abdullahi added that building capacity ahead of the assessment would help Nigeria identify gaps, consolidate existing progress and demonstrate the effectiveness of its financial integrity framework.

The programme has brought together representatives of key government agencies and institutions responsible for safeguarding Nigeria’s financial system.

Participating institutions include the Bureau of Public Procurement, Central Bank of Nigeria, Code of Conduct Bureau, Corporate Affairs Commission, Defence Intelligence Agency, Department of State Services, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Federal Ministry of Justice and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

Others are the Mining Cadastral Office, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, National Counter Terrorism Centre, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, National Insurance Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Revenue Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Securities and Exchange Commission and Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, among other relevant institutions.

Their areas of responsibility span financial intelligence, regulatory supervision, suspicious transaction reporting, criminal investigations and prosecutions, asset recovery, border control, beneficial ownership transparency, revenue enforcement and national security.

The NFIU said coordinated efforts across these institutions were critical to demonstrating that Nigeria’s AML/CFT/CPF framework was delivering measurable results.

It disclosed that Nigeria had increased its pool of globally accredited experts in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards from fewer than 10 to 25 over the past two years.

The current training forms part of a broader capacity-building strategy, with additional cohorts of 100 to 150 participants envisaged quarterly and a possible future extension to the private sector.

Training sessions will cover financial intelligence, regulatory supervision, virtual assets, beneficial ownership, investigations and prosecutions, asset confiscation, international cooperation, targeted financial sanctions and proliferation financing risks.

Participants will also undertake practical exercises and simulated assessment interviews to prepare them to respond to assessors with accurate information and verifiable evidence.

The initiative builds on a national stocktake and gap analysis coordinated by the NFIU through the Inter-Ministerial Committee, with support from the EFCC, DSS, ICPC, CBN, NAICOM and SEC.

The exercise is designed to assess the implementation of existing measures, identify strengths and outstanding gaps, and establish priorities for corrective action across Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework.

Bakari said the ultimate objective was to translate collective institutional efforts into measurable improvements in detecting and disrupting financial crimes.

“The real value of this exercise lies in the improvements it helps us deliver. By bringing our institutions together around evidence, shared responsibilities and measurable results, we can build a stronger and more effective system for detecting and disrupting financial crime,” she said.

The NFIU maintained that the initiative reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to sustained inter-agency collaboration, stronger institutional capacity and demonstrable progress ahead of its next Mutual Evaluation.