The Presidency has disclosed that it is taking steps to ensure Nigeria’s removal from the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey list before May 2025 deadline.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila gave this assurance during a fact-finding visit to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) office in Abuja on Tuesday.
Responding to a request from the Director and Chief Executive Officer of NFIU, Hafsat Bakari, who sought high-level intervention to meet the FATF action plan implementation deadline.
Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, expressed the Federal Government’s intention to fix the inadequacies that led to Nigeria’s listing.
It would be recalled that on February 24, 2023, Nigeria was placed on the FATF Grey List due to rising capital inflows and shortcomings in combating money laundering, terrorism, and arms financing.
The FATF is an independent intergovernmental organization that promotes policies to protect the global financial system by evaluating jurisdictions based on their Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation (AML/CFT/P) standards.
The Chief of Staff also commended the agency for its commitment to implementing the recent Supreme Court interpretation regarding the local government autonomy.
Gbajabiamila also visited the Nigeria extractive industries transparency initiatives and the National Council on Climate Change as part of his engagements with agencies under the supervision of the state house.
