The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Ms. Bakari Bakari, has confirmed that Nigeria is expected to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list by 2025. This announcement was made in a statement issued by Mr. Sani Tukur, the Strategic Communications Officer of the NFIU, in Abuja on Friday.
Nigeria has been actively working on strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks to meet FATF requirements and facilitate its removal from the grey list.
Bakari stated that exiting the grey list would mark a significant achievement for Nigeria and reinforce its commitment to creating a more transparent financial environment. She highlighted the approval of Nigeria’s fifth progress report by the FATF as a milestone in the country’s ongoing efforts to improve its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) framework.
She noted that the approval signifies Nigeria’s dedication to meeting international standards in the fight against financial crime. She also emphasised that the FATF’s recognition shows the collaborative efforts of various Nigerian stakeholders in achieving these positive results.
Earlier, the FATF had commended Nigeria for its progress in combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, approving the fifth progress report since the country’s inclusion in February 2023. The FATF plenary recognised Nigeria’s significant strides in implementing its action plan in collaboration with its International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG).
This action plan was designed to address the deficiencies highlighted in the 2021 AML/CFT mutual evaluation report. The plenary further acknowledged Nigeria’s sustained high-level political commitment to reforms and the concrete steps taken by stakeholders, coordinated by the NFIU, to improve the country’s financial crime-fighting capabilities.
Nigeria is expected to complete the action plan by May 2025, paving the way for its removal from the grey list by the end of the year.
The FATF, established in 1995, leads global efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The grey list includes jurisdictions under increased monitoring that are working with the FATF to address deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes.
In addition to Nigeria’s progress, the FATF also removed the Philippines from the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring while adding Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Nepal.
Bakari led Nigeria’s delegation to the recent FATF meetings held in Paris.
