Nigeria Trains 100 Experts Ahead Of Anti-Money Laundering Assessment

Nigeria has commenced a five-day training programme for 100 experts drawn from key government institutions to strengthen the country’s preparedness for its forthcoming third-round assessment of its anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing measures.

The programme, which runs from October 12 to 16 in Abuja, is facilitated by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), with support from SecFIN Africa, at Nigeria’s request.

It is designed to strengthen participants’ understanding of the assessment methodology and prepare them for a national mock mutual evaluation exercise scheduled for November 2026.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Abubakar Bakari said the country must demonstrate not only the adequacy of its laws and institutional frameworks but also their effectiveness in tackling financial crimes.

Bakari said the training builds on Nigeria’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025 and reflects the government’s commitment to protecting the integrity of the financial system.

Recall that Nigeria had exited FATF grey list last October, which was welcomed by the statehouse and other stakeholders in Nigeria.

She stressed that Nigeria’s readiness would depend on its ability to provide verifiable evidence of the results achieved through its policies, laws and institutional arrangements.

Bakari said the ultimate objective was to translate inter-agency cooperation into measurable improvements in the detection and disruption of financial crimes.

She added that a coordinated, evidence-based approach would help Nigeria strengthen its financial integrity framework and demonstrate sustained progress in meeting international standards.

Representing the director-general of GIABA, the organisation’s director of evaluations and compliance, Giwa Siman Sechap said mutual evaluation required coordinated national efforts and credible evidence of implementation.

He said the training would improve participants’ knowledge, strengthen inter-agency coordination and prepare them to provide clear, evidence-based responses to assessors.

According to him, countries undergoing mutual evaluation must demonstrate that their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems are producing tangible results beyond merely meeting technical requirements.

SecFIN Africa’s country representative, Professor Shehu Abdulllahi also emphasised the importance of sustained capacity development and cooperation among government institutions.

He said effective preparation required institutions to share reliable information, coordinate their activities and take collective responsibility for national priorities.

The programme has drawn participants from more than 20 government agencies and regulatory institutions, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Others include the Corporate Affairs Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Insurance Commission, Nigeria Revenue Service and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

The participating institutions are expected to contribute expertise in financial intelligence, regulatory supervision, suspicious transaction reporting, criminal investigations, prosecution, asset recovery, border control, beneficial ownership transparency and national security.

The NFIU said the collective involvement of the agencies was critical to demonstrating the effectiveness of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing framework.

It disclosed that Nigeria had increased its pool of globally accredited experts on FATF standards from fewer than 10 to 25 over the past two years.

The current training is part of a broader capacity-building plan that envisages quarterly training sessions for additional groups of between 100 and 150 participants, with a possible extension to private-sector stakeholders in the future.

Participants will receive training on financial intelligence, regulatory supervision, virtual assets, beneficial ownership, investigations and prosecutions, asset confiscation, international cooperation, targeted financial sanctions and proliferation financing risks.

The sessions will also feature practical exercises and simulated assessment interviews to prepare participants to respond to questions from international assessors with accurate information and verifiable evidence.

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

The exercise is intended to assess the implementation of existing measures, identify outstanding gaps, document areas of progress and establish priorities for corrective action ahead of the assessment.

The training forms part of Nigeria’s broader efforts to consolidate the gains recorded since its removal from the FATF grey list and improve its preparedness for the next mutual evaluation.