The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the national terrorism financing risk assessment helped the government to identify non-profit organisations (NPOs) vulnerable to abuse by terrorist financiers.
Olanipekun Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, spoke on Wednesday at
the third Africa high-level civil society anti-money laundering and
counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) conference in Abuja.
The conference, organised by Spaces for Change (S4C), was
themed ‘Implementing FATF Recommendation 8 Correctly: Practices, Lessons
Learned and Opportunities for Reform’.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8
requires countries to review the adequacy of laws and regulations related to
NPOs to protect them from terrorist-financing abuse.
Olukoyede, who was represented by Harry Erin, director of
the special control unit against money laundering (SCUML), said the assessment
marked a shift from assumptions about the sector to a targeted, evidence-based
understanding of terrorist financing risks.
“The assessment has enabled Nigeria to move beyond broad
assumptions and towards a more targeted understanding of terrorist financing
vulnerabilities. It has strengthened our ability to identify organisations
genuinely at risk of abuse, while ensuring that the overwhelming majority of
legitimate non-profit organisations can continue their vital work without
unnecessary regulatory burdens,” he said.
Olukoyede said Nigeria adopted the approach through
collaboration among the EFCC, SCUML, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit
(NFIU), the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Corporate
Affairs Commission (CAC), other government institutions and civil society
organisations.
Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, executive director of Spaces for
Change, said Nigeria’s compliance with FATF standards followed a decade of
sustained reforms, policy changes and collaboration between regulators and
civil society.
She said the relationship between government agencies and
civil society organisations had evolved from confrontation to partnership
through dialogue, evidence-based engagement and institutional reforms.
Ben Saul, the United Nations special rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, commended
Nigeria’s compliance with FATF standards since late 2025.
He, however, warned governments against misapplying the FATF
recommendations by imposing blanket regulations on all non-profit
organisations.
Saul said only organisations found to be at risk through
credible, evidence-based assessments should be subject to targeted oversight,
adding that excessive regulation could undermine humanitarian work,
peacebuilding and human rights activities.
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