0
ABUJA – President Bola Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026. The order, according to a statement from the presidency, is meant to harmonise the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen cooperation among the nation’s financial, revenue and capital markets agencies, protect citizens from fraud, and safeguard the integrity of the financial system while enabling responsible innovation.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy on Friday, said Tinubu signed the Order pursuant to Section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered).
The Executive Order takes effect immediately. He explained that it responds to a regulatory environment that has become fragmented as virtual assets increasingly blur the traditional boundaries between currencies, money, commodities and securities.
“With relevant agencies operating in silos, overlapping in some areas and leaving gaps in others, the country has been exposed to risks, including money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy threats, fraud, and revenue losses. Too often, unregistered and fraudulent operators have exploited these gaps to prey on unsuspecting Nigerians, costing families their savings.
“The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies.
“To achieve this, the Order establishes a Virtual Asset Council, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as vice-chairs, and comprising the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” the presidency explained.
