The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Ms Hafsat Bakari as the director/ chief executive officer of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
President Bola Tinubu had in a letter addressed to the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, requested the Senate to confirm Ms Bakari as the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit.
By this appointment, Bakari is to replace Modibbo Tukur, who was relieved of his job by President Tinubu in June 2023.
The confirmation of Ms Bakari was done sequel to a report by the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, following her screening and subsequent debate by the lawmakers.
The Committee report revealed that Bakari is a lawyer and financial intelligence expert with years of experience in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing.
The report also noted that before her appointment as the chief executive officer of the NFIU, she served as deputy director at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, and was at different times the Head of the General Services Unit; Head of the Strategy and Reorientation Unit, and Head of the Board Secretariat of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
While speaking with journalists earlier after her screening, the chairman Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Emmanuel Udende, noted that “Ms. Bakare will bring her wealth of experience and expertise to bear in the discharge of her mandate in this critical role, especially in view of the President Bola Tinubu’s war against illicit financial flows and other sharp practices currently prevalent in segments of the nation’s foreign exchange markets.”
NFIU, which is a creation of the National Assembly, is the Nigerian federal agency responsible for collecting and analyzing disclosures from reporting organisations, in order to produce financial intelligence to other agencies combating money laundering, terrorism, and other financial crimes.
The NFIU was established in 2004 as an autonomous unit within the central coordinating body for the country’s Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) framework of Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN).
It also operates as part of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
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