Federal Government has said it is working assiduously to get Nigeria out of the greylist of the Financial Action Task Force FATF on money laundery. Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said this at a meeting with the United Kingdom UK Minister of State for Home Affairs, David Hanson, in Abuja. He said this alongside the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation AGF, Mr Lateef Fagbemi SAN who are co-chairing a committee working with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit NFIU to get the country to the “White List” by the end of this month. It will be recalled that the country was moved from the “Black List” to the “Grey List” in February 2023.
Dr Tunji-Ojo said the President Bola Tinubu administration is seriously addressing gaps in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks to move to the White List. He said; “When you look at the challenges we are having especially in battling terrorism and insecurity, you will know that a lot of these has to do with fraud and illicit funding. So, it is in our own interest as a country to make sure that we bring fraud to its knees. Let me also say this, you will realize the efforts that Nigeria has been making with regards to the FATF; you know we were on the Black List, but at the moment, we are on the Grey List. I am the co-chair of the committee with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. I can tell you we are working very well with the NFIU and making sure that we exit the Grey List and we will get to the White List by the end of May.
“So, it means we are pretty serious about this and because it is key to economic recovery. You know Nigeria is a country of 230 million people it is a country of huge potentials and it is not just about population. Population must come with productivity and productivity is a function of investment and management. For people to invest in your country, people must have confidence in the economy. So when the level of fraud is high, nobody wants to come and risk investment. This particular government is trying to create within the era of renewed hope, the biggest economy not just in Africa but one that is competitive within the economy of the world. We sincerely are taking this very seriously and the NFIU is doing massively well in this regard and there is a firm instruction from the President for us to exit the Grey List. So, we are working technically round the clock and in the areas of collaboration trans-border, regional, inter-regional, intra-regional whichever, we are open to it because as I said our values are shared and our focus is the same and we just need to align our thoughts and harmonize our strategies towards making sure that we are able to solve this problem.
“We are aware of the perception and the reputation out there and we know how it has affected investments and economic growth and we know how it has affected even the per capita income in Nigeria, which is, the population today is increasing faster than the economy in terms of growth. So, it means that we have to do something different and in doing something different, it means that we must put in more efforts in making sure we solve this problem. I want to assure you, this is not business as usual. This particular government is about business unusual and it is about doing things not in the same way. It is about doing things in a renewed and a reformed way. If you renew the past that has led us to nowhere then you have renewed hopelessness. We didn’t promise that”, he added.
Nigeria working to exit FATF greylist’ money on laundry by month end—FG
