• Ibezim-Ohaeri: Issues affecting not-for-profit operations being addressed
•Most NPOs don’t pose terrorism financing risk, says UN rapporteur
Emmanuel Addeh and Aminat Hassan in Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said Nigeria’s nationwide terrorism financing risk assessment of Non-profit Organisations (NPOs) has enabled authorities to identify the small number of organisations vulnerable to abuse by terrorist financiers.
The anti-graft agency stated that it has further ensured that the overwhelming majority of legitimate charities and civil society groups are not subjected to unnecessary regulatory restrictions, while the exercise has strengthened the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.
The EFCC Chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, who spoke at the Third Africa High-Level Civil Society Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) Conference in Abuja, said the assessment marked a shift from assumptions about the sector to a targeted, evidence-based understanding of terrorist financing risks.
The conference, themed: “Implementing FATF Recommendation 8 Correctly: Practices, Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Reform,” brought together regulators, financial intelligence units, law enforcement agencies, development partners and civil society leaders from across Africa.
Represented by the Director of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), Harry Erin, Olukoyede said the assessment was undertaken through collaboration involving the EFCC, SCUML, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and civil society organisations.
According to him, the process was distinguished by extensive consultation, technical rigour and active participation by the non-profit community, enabling Nigeria to identify organisations genuinely vulnerable to terrorist financing while ensuring that the overwhelming majority of legitimate organisations continue to operate without unnecessary regulatory burdens.
“The assessment has enabled Nigeria to move beyond broad assumptions and towards a more targeted understanding of terrorist financing vulnerabilities. It has strengthened our ability to identify organisations genuinely at risk of abuse, while ensuring that the overwhelming majority of legitimate non-profit organisations can continue their vital work without unnecessary regulatory burdens,” he said.
He stressed that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8 was not intended to regulate or restrict all non-profit organisations but requires countries to identify only those organisations that may be vulnerable to terrorist financing abuse and apply proportionate, risk-based measures.
He described civil society organisations as indispensable partners in delivering humanitarian assistance, education, healthcare, support for internally displaced persons, youth empowerment and conflict response, adding that they remain critical to safeguarding peace, resilience and sustainable development.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Spaces for Change (S4C), Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, said reforms introduced over the past decade have substantially improved relations between regulators and non-profit organisations, while addressing unintended consequences that previously constrained legitimate charitable activities.
As organisers of the event, she recalled that early engagements on the implementation of FATF Recommendation 8 were characterised by tension and mistrust.
According to her, sustained dialogue between government institutions and civil society has since produced landmark reforms, including Nigeria’s standalone terrorist financing risk assessment of the non-profit sector, the repeal of provisions that classified NPOs as obliged reporting entities under anti-money laundering laws and the country’s eventual compliance rating on FATF Recommendation 8.
Ibezim-Ohaeri said the current leadership of SCUML was consolidating those gains by promoting financial inclusion for non-profit organisations while addressing operational challenges arising from the implementation of anti-money laundering measures.
She noted that although the reforms were still evolving, Nigeria’s experience was already providing useful lessons for several African countries, including Ghana, The Gambia, Togo and Burkina Faso, adding that the Abuja conference was designed to bring global conversations on AML/CFT implementation closer to Africa.
Delivering the keynote address, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism, Prof. Ben Saul, said governments must avoid treating the entire non-profit sector as vulnerable to terrorist financing. “In fact, most NPOs do not pose any risk of terrorist financing at all,” he said.
Saul explained that the revised FATF Recommendation 8 emphasises that only organisations falling within the FATF definition of non-profit organisations and found to be at risk should be subjected to proportionate regulation.
He warned that excessive compliance requirements often divert scarce resources from humanitarian work, peacebuilding, human rights protection and efforts to prevent violent extremism, while in some jurisdictions anti-terrorism measures have been used to suppress legitimate civil society activities.
He urged governments to ensure that risk assessments are evidence-based, regularly updated and developed in close consultation with non-profit organisations, stressing that respect for human rights ultimately strengthens the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts.
Earlier, Chairman of the Board of Spaces for Change, Samuel Diminas, reiterated that Africa continues to lose more than $88 billion annually to illicit financial flows, describing the figure as resources that could otherwise have been invested in schools, healthcare and other development priorities.
Diminas said the conference was intended to strengthen collaboration among governments, regulators, financial institutions and civil society, insisting that effective anti-money laundering compliance works best through partnership rather than confrontation.
He added that the discussions would focus on practical reforms capable of strengthening the integrity of Africa’s financial systems while safeguarding the civic space needed for legitimate non-profit organisations to continue supporting development across the continent.
