By Stella Odueme
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has pledged to sustain Nigeria’s progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, warning against any reversal of the gains that led to the country’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025.
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 NCS headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting was organised to prepare Nigeria 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 anti-money laundering framework.
She stressed that maintaining Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list required continued commitment and effective implementation of existing measures.
“It is an opportunity to take an honest look at the progress Nigeria has made so far, identify the gaps that presently exist and ensure that Nigeria’s achievements are sustained,” she said.
Adeola commended the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for its initiatives and programmes aimed at ensuring a successful mutual evaluation, expressing confidence that Nigeria would not return to the grey list.
She also highlighted the strategic position of the Customs Service in combating financial crimes, particularly through its responsibilities for cross-border trade and the movement of goods.
However, she emphasised that the fight against money laundering required collaboration among relevant government institutions and other stakeholders.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Hafsat Abubakar, the agency’s Chief Operations Officer for Law Enforcement Support and Coordination, Emmanuel Sotande, said the meeting would help assess progress, identify outstanding deficiencies and strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness for the forthcoming evaluation.
Sotande described Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list in October 2025 as a significant national achievement made possible through collective efforts.
He said the priority was now to preserve the gains and demonstrate the effectiveness of measures put in place to protect the country’s financial system.
According to him, the Customs Service plays a critical role in Nigeria’s framework for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons.
He explained that beyond revenue generation, trade facilitation and border enforcement, the Service contributes to detecting suspicious cross-border transactions and activities through its access to import and export records, cargo documentation and border intelligence.
Sotande noted that combining these capabilities with the financial intelligence gathered by the NFIU would strengthen the country's ability to identify suspicious networks, trace illicit proceeds and support enforcement actions.
He stressed that timely information sharing and coordinated operations among relevant agencies remained essential to ensuring Nigeria's continued compliance with international standards and protecting the integrity of its financial system.