The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing framework ahead of the 2027 Financial Action Task Force mutual evaluation.
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Fagbemi gave the assurance on Thursday during the Federal Ministry of Justice AML/CFT/CPF Stocktake Exercise in Abuja, describing the engagement as a critical opportunity to assess the effectiveness of institutions responsible for combating financial crimes and upholding the rule of law.
The AGF said the exercise was more than a routine institutional meeting, describing it as “a moment of truth” for participating agencies to determine whether they were delivering justice with integrity, protecting the country from financial crime and maintaining the confidence of Nigerians and the international community.
He noted that Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list was achieved through collaboration, discipline and institutional sacrifice but warned that the achievement should not lead to complacency.
“Our exit from the grey list was not our destination; it was only a milestone. The true measure of our success is not where we have come from, but where we are determined to go,” Fagbemi said.
According to him, global standards have moved beyond merely enacting laws to demonstrating measurable results, including the ability to identify illicit financial flows, recover stolen assets, prosecute offenders, dismantle criminal networks and strengthen international cooperation.
Fagbemi said the Federal Ministry of Justice occupies a strategic position in Nigeria’s AML/CFT/CPF framework through its responsibilities for prosecution, international cooperation, asset recovery and legal reforms.
“Our performance will shape not only the outcome of this mutual evaluation but also the confidence investors place in our economy, the respect our nation commands internationally and the future security of generations yet unborn,” he said.
The AGF commended the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for coordinating the stocktake exercise and thanked international country experts for their continued technical support.
He reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring that Nigeria would not merely be prepared for the 2027 FATF mutual evaluation but would perform exceptionally well.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, described the Federal Ministry of Justice as a central pillar of Nigeria’s legal, governance and accountability framework.
Bakari said that although the stocktake exercise focused on technical compliance and institutional effectiveness, its broader purpose was to strengthen the rule of law in the face of increasingly sophisticated financial crimes.
“The global fight against money laundering, corruption, organised crime and other illicit financial activities is, at its core, a fight for the integrity of institutions,” she said.
She warned that criminal networks thrive where accountability is weak and the justice system is unable to respond effectively to emerging threats, making the role of the Ministry of Justice indispensable.
Bakari highlighted the Ministry’s contributions to legislative reforms, mutual legal assistance, asset recovery, international cooperation and prosecution support, noting that many of Nigeria’s recent achievements in the AML/CFT sector were driven by its leadership.
She stressed that financial intelligence alone was insufficient without effective investigations, successful prosecutions and a justice system capable of inspiring public confidence.
According to her, the stocktake exercise provided an opportunity to assess progress, identify institutional gaps and strengthen collaboration among agencies responsible for protecting Nigeria’s financial system from money laundering, terrorism financing, proliferation financing and other illicit financial activities.
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