ABUJA — Nigerian financial institutions and other reporting entities flagged 82,143 suspicious transactions to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) throughout 2024, as the country stepped up efforts to curb money laundering, terrorism financing, and related illicit activities.
According to the NFIU’s 2024 Annual Report, the agency also processed over 25 million Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and 23,364 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), signaling a period of heightened surveillance across the financial sector.
Sector-Wide Reporting Breakdown
The data shows that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) were the primary drivers of compliance monitoring, accounting for the vast majority of all submissions:
• Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs): Banks filed 73,531 reports, representing nearly 90% of the total volume. Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) followed with 5,442 reports, while capital market and insurance operators filed 1,796.
• Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs): Out of the 25.82 million CTRs submitted, banks accounted for 23.16 million.
• Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs): The NFIU received 21.47 million reports related to PEPs, with the volume peaking sharply in the fourth quarter of the year.
The NFIU attributed the rising figures to increased monitoring, particularly by DMBs, which saw quarterly STR filings grow from 14,744 in the first quarter to 21,704 by year-end.
Emerging Financial Risks
The NFIU’s analysis of the submitted reports highlighted several specific vulnerabilities within the Nigerian economy. The agency identified widespread abuse of personal bank accounts for business transactions to evade taxes, the use of third-party entities to divert public funds, and the frequent use of illegal Bureau de Change operators by public officials to launder money.
Furthermore, the agency warned that terrorist organizations are increasingly leveraging the precious metals and stones sector to move funds, often operating without mandatory certification from the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML).
Intelligence Dissemination and Enforcement
To assist law enforcement, the NFIU disseminated 4,896 intelligence reports throughout the year, split between proactive (3,030) and reactive (1,866) disclosures. Corruption topped the list of identified offenses, accounting for 1,958 cases, followed by fraud (1,022) and stand-alone money laundering (705).
The NFIU also noted that it is tightening its regulatory framework in tandem with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A draft framework issued by the apex bank in May 2025 proposes that financial institutions integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for real-time risk scoring and automated regulatory reporting to better detect anomalies in cross-border and digital currency transactions.
