The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit have begun a three-day stocktake of Nigeria’s preparedness for the 2027 Mutual Evaluation of its anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing regime.
The exercise started on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja and will continue on Wednesday, September 30, and Friday, October 2.
The review brings together officials of both agencies and other stakeholders to assess progress, identify gaps and strengthen coordination ahead of the assessment.
Speaking at the opening, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede said the exercise would help consolidate Nigeria’s financial crime reforms and sustain compliance with international standards.
Represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda, Olukoyede urged stakeholders to protect the gains that led to Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s increased monitoring list, popularly known as the grey list.
Nigeria was placed under increased monitoring in February 2023 after the FATF identified strategic deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework. It was removed from the list on October 24, 2025, after completing its action plan and demonstrating progress in addressing the identified deficiencies.
Olukoyede identified financial intelligence, asset tracing and recovery, money laundering investigations and prosecutions as key areas requiring sustained attention.
“It is unimaginable that Nigeria returns to the Grey List,” he said.
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He said the stocktake would help determine the impact of measures implemented since Nigeria’s removal from increased monitoring and address remaining weaknesses.
The NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, said the exercise was aimed at strengthening the collective response of institutions combating financial crimes.
Bakari, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Law Enforcement Agencies, Emmanuel Sotande, said the review would help stakeholders identify persistent challenges and agree on practical measures ahead of the evaluation.
She said assessors would examine not only Nigeria’s laws and institutional structures but also evidence of effective implementation, including investigations, prosecutions, asset recovery, inter-agency cooperation and the use of financial intelligence.
The exercise follows the NFIU’s launch of a roadmap for the 2027 evaluation in January 2026 and a two-day strategy session in March involving key institutions, including the EFCC, Central Bank of Nigeria, Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria Police Force and Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nigeria’s preparations build on its previous mutual evaluation, conducted from September 25 to October 14, 2019, with the report published in 2021. A 2024 follow-up assessment recorded improvements in several areas of technical compliance.
The FATF’s October 2025 assessment subsequently cited progress in financial intelligence, money laundering investigations and prosecutions, international cooperation, beneficial ownership transparency, risk-based supervision, currency declaration enforcement and asset management.
At the ongoing stocktake, Bakari’s Chief of Staff, Mohammed Shahid Ahmed, reviewed deficiencies identified during the previous evaluation and measures taken to address them.
He highlighted financial investigations, recovery of criminal proceeds, international cooperation and cross-border currency declaration as areas requiring continued attention.
Ahmed said the 2027 evaluation would test both technical compliance and effectiveness, including whether financial intelligence was informing risk-based investigations and enforcement actions were producing measurable results.