NNNGO welcomes the non inclusion of nonprofits as designated nonfinancial institution in the money laundering and terrorism prevention laws.
NNNGO welcomes the non inclusion of nonprofits as designated nonfinancial institution in the money laundering and terrorism prevention laws.
Both the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 and Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 have removed nonprofits from its definition of designated nonfinancial institutions (DNFI) after years of advocacy.
LAGOS, Nigeria. May 18, 2022/NNNGO—The Nigeria Network of NGOs welcomed the non inclusion of nonprofits in the definition of designated nonfinancial intuitions by the Nigerian government in both the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 and Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 representing an important win for the nonprofit sector and a bold step in creating an enabling environment for the operations of civil society organisations in Nigeria.
“I would like to express my excitement and congratulate the National Assembly and Federal Government for creating an enabling environment for civil society to thrive by removing nonprofits from the DNFI list. The inclusion of our sector on the list has hindered the operations of many organisations. With this non inclusion a regulatory burden is taken off organisations in the areas of monthly cash transaction reports and SCUML examination visits. The atmosphere for our work from the moment these laws were signed by Mr. President remains positive” NNNGO Executive Director, Oyebisi. B. Oluseyi said in the early hours of Wednesday morning after a careful review of both laws.
There have been some difficult moments in this lengthy advocacy which has seen the Network engaging with regulators, evaluators and the National Assembly from the 8th and 9th Assemblies in line with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Recommendations and its interpretative notes. The work also done by our friends at Spaces for Change (S4C) and our regulators at the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering in getting to this point is commendable. “I believe this win, driven largely by outcomes of the mutual evaluation for Nigeria demonstrates the country’s ability to focus on its state- building priorities and is an opportunity to improve civic space,” Oyebisi said.
“Now its time for other African countries especially countries using the FATF Recommendations to shrink civic space to learn from Nigeria and to work on critical national priorities that still face civil society’’ he added. “There’s much work to be done and we look forward to being the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering’s (SCUML) partners in addressing the vulnerabilities of the sector to money laundering and terrorism financing”.
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For further information
Oyindamola Aramide
Communications Lead, Nigeria Network of NGOs
oyindamola.aramide@nnngo.org
+234 906 946 0107
About the Nigeria Network of NGOs
NNNGO is the first generic membership organisation for nonprofits in Nigeria dedicated to improving the operational environment for nonprofits. NNNGO brings together more than 3,400 nonprofits from around the country focused on education, health, environment, gender, agriculture, social protection, youth, poverty, good governance, and other areas of progressing national development. Since 1992, NNNGO has worked to advance the common interests of the sector, providing programs that advance national development, civil society legitimacy, transparency, and accountability.
