Financial crimes: British govt, NFIU to establish Nigeria’s first PPP

By Efe Onodjae

The British High Commission, in partnership with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, has commenced steps to establish Nigeria’s first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework to tackle financial crimes, money laundering and terrorism financing.

Speaking at a round table in Lagos, the Illicit Financial adviser, British High Commission in Nigeria, Jehanzeb Khan, said  the UK was supporting the NFIU to create a collaborative platform between financial institutions and banks to strengthen the fight against illicit financial activities.

According to him, Nigeria was chosen as a priority country because of its economic size and deep financial links with the UK.

“We have supported similar projects in South Africa and Kenya, but Nigeria’s economy is massive and closely tied to the UK. Many of the threats we face, from fraud to money laundering, are shared between our countries. Cooperation is in our mutual interest.

“In the UK, fraud has risen by 30% in the last three years. Nigeria has also recorded significant increases. This not only harms investment and business confidence but has also contributed to Nigeria being placed on the FATF grey list”.

On the sustainability of the initiative, Khan explained that the UK’s role would be to provide technical expertise, develop governance structures, and offer initial funding, after which the NFIU and private sector would take over.

“Our engagement is short-term. Ultimately, it will be up to the NFIU and the private banks to fund and drive this in the long term,” he noted.

The Managing Director of Pattison Consulting Ltd. and President of the Compliance Institute of Nigeria, Mr. Pattison Boleigha, described the PPP initiative spearheaded by the NFIU and supported by the British High Commission as a “landmark step” in Nigeria’s fight against financial crimes, money laundering and terrorism financing.

Boleigha said: “The only way to take the profit out of crime is to strengthen the anti-financial crime, anti-money laundering, and anti-terrorism regimes in Nigeria—through non-kinetic efforts.

“For the first time, we are creating platforms where the public and private sectors can share information on a trusted and protected basis. This will help prevent criminals from enjoying the proceeds of their crimes.”

He credited the British government for making the event possible, noting that Pattison Consulting was contracted to design and implement the platforms for the PPP initiative.

“Countries like India, South Africa, the UK, Australia, and Singapore already have functional public-private partnerships in place. Nigeria is yet to have its own, which makes today’s event groundbreaking,” he added.

On his part, the NFIU’s General Counsel, Mr. Felix Obiamalu, said the aim of the initiative was to bring together stakeholders in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, AML-CFT, ecosystem to design a model suited to Nigeria’s unique circumstances.

“Apart from South Africa, I am not aware of any other PPP against financial crime in Africa.  Globally, state resources alone, both financial and technical, are not enough to tackle financial crimes.

‘’Criminals are becoming more sophisticated, so there is need to collaborate in line with the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendation 2 on coordination and collaboration,” he said.

According to him, the NFIU is drawing inspiration from similar structures such as the UK’s Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce, JMLIT; the Fintel Alliance in Australia; and the Fusion Centre in South Africa.

“It’s time for Nigeria to look inward and fashion out its own model, which is what we are doing now,” he added.

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