…As Nigeria Prepares for Next AML/CFT Mutual Evaluation
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has pledged to sustain its efforts against money laundering, terrorism financing and other illicit financial activities to prevent Nigeria from returning to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
The Service described Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list as a major national achievement, stressing the need for stronger institutional collaboration and sustained enforcement to consolidate the gains.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, represented by the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Finance, Administration and Technical Services, Kikelomo Adeola, gave the assurance on Monday, October 26, 2026, during a stocktaking meeting at the Customs headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting was organised to assess Nigeria’s preparedness for its next Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) mutual evaluation.
Adeola described the exercise as an opportunity to review the country’s progress, identify existing gaps and develop strategies to sustain the achievements recorded in strengthening its financial integrity framework.
She warned that failure to consolidate the progress made could undermine the country’s efforts, expressing confidence that Nigeria would not return to the FATF grey list.
“I believe Nigeria will never go back to that grey list,” she declared.
She also commended the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for its initiatives and programmes aimed at ensuring a smooth and successful mutual evaluation process.
Adeola noted that the Customs Service occupies a strategic position in the fight against illicit financial activities because of its responsibilities for cross-border trade facilitation, goods movement and border enforcement.
However, she emphasised that the task required collective commitment and effective collaboration among relevant institutions, noting that no single agency could achieve the objective alone.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Hafsat Abubakar, represented by the Chief Operations Officer, Law Enforcement Support and Coordination, Emmanuel Sotande, said the stocktaking meeting would help assess progress, identify outstanding gaps and strengthen institutional readiness for the next evaluation.
Sotande described Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list as a significant achievement resulting from collective efforts, stressing that the priority now was to demonstrate sustained effectiveness in implementing measures against money laundering and terrorism financing.
He highlighted the strategic role of the Customs Service in Nigeria’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation framework, beyond its traditional responsibilities of revenue generation, trade facilitation and border security.
According to him, the Service’s access to import and export documentation, cargo information, trade records and border intelligence provides critical information that complements the financial intelligence gathered by the NFIU.
He explained that effective information sharing and coordinated enforcement between both institutions would strengthen the country’s capacity to detect suspicious cross-border transactions, identify illicit financial networks, trace criminal proceeds and support appropriate enforcement actions.
The meeting forms part of broader efforts by Nigerian institutions to strengthen the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing architecture ahead of the next international mutual evaluation.
