The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) have commenced a three-day stocktake to assess Nigeria’s preparedness for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 2027 Mutual Evaluation on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.
The exercise, which began on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, continues on Wednesday, September 30, and October 2, bringing together officials of both institutions and other relevant stakeholders to review progress, identify gaps and strengthen inter-agency coordination ahead of the assessment.
Speaking at the opening session, EFCC Executive Chairman Ola Olukoyede, represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda, said the stocktake demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to meeting international standards on anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing.
Olukoyede said the exercise would enable stakeholders to assess Nigeria’s progress since its removal from the FATF grey list and determine areas requiring additional attention before the 2027 evaluation.
Nigeria was placed under FATF enhanced monitoring in 2022 over deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework. The country was subsequently removed from the grey list on October 24, 2025, after implementing measures aimed at addressing identified deficiencies.
Olukoyede warned against any reversal of the gains recorded since the country’s delisting.
“It is unimaginable that Nigeria returns to the Grey List,” he said, identifying financial intelligence, asset tracing, recovery and management, money laundering investigations and prosecution as key areas requiring sustained attention.
He said the stocktake would provide an opportunity to determine what had worked, identify residual challenges and redirect resources where necessary ahead of the Mutual Evaluation.
“Since Nigeria was removed from the FATF Grey List, we have scaled up our Anti-Money Laundering enforcement activities, recovering proceeds of crimes,” Olukoyede said.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Law Enforcement Agencies, Emmanuel Sotande, said the exercise was designed to strengthen the longstanding collaboration between the two institutions.
Bakari said the stocktake was not a response to an immediate crisis but an opportunity to measure performance against international standards and identify areas for improvement.
She said the 2027 assessment would examine not only Nigeria’s laws, regulatory frameworks and institutional structures, but also evidence demonstrating their effective implementation.
According to her, international assessors would examine concrete outcomes, including effective investigations, successful prosecutions, asset recovery, inter-agency collaboration and the use of financial intelligence to disrupt criminal activities.
In a presentation, the NFIU Chief of Staff, Mohammed Shahid Ahmed, outlined key areas requiring attention ahead of the 2027 assessment.
Ahmed recalled that Nigeria’s 2019 Mutual Evaluation, the report of which was published in 2021, identified deficiencies that contributed to the country’s subsequent placement on the FATF grey list.
He said Nigeria responded with measures targeting financial investigations, identification and recovery of proceeds of crime, international cooperation and cross-border currency declaration, among other areas.
However, Ahmed noted that Nigeria had a limited period to consolidate the gains recorded following its removal from enhanced monitoring, as preparations for the next Mutual Evaluation began less than a year after the delisting.
He said the forthcoming assessment would examine both technical compliance with FATF standards and the effectiveness of Nigeria’s implementation, including whether relevant agencies were appropriately using financial intelligence, prioritising risk-based investigations and producing measurable enforcement outcomes.
The three-day stocktake is expected to strengthen coordination between the EFCC, NFIU and other relevant institutions as Nigeria prepares to demonstrate sustained progress in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.
