The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has elevated terrorism financing supervision to a current supervisory priority. The CBN’s acting director of corporate communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. Ms Sidi-Ali said the move was part of the apex bank’s ongoing efforts to protect the Nigerian financial system from abuse by illicit actors. She said the supervisory priority covered terrorism financing risk management, transaction monitoring, implementation of targeted financial sanctions and terrorism financing-related suspicious transaction reporting. “The CBN will continue to apply a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagement. “This is to support effective AML/CFT/CPF controls across the financial sector in line with existing legal and regulatory obligations,” she said. Ms Sidi-Ali said the supervisory focus also supported Nigeria’s ongoing domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, financial integrity and the protection of the financial system. She said further supervisory engagement would be undertaken as appropriate.
