The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stepped up regulatory surveillance of banks and other financial institutions as part of a tougher strategy to prevent the country’s financial system from being used to fund terrorism and other illicit activities.
This was just as the apex bank said it had elevated terrorism financing supervision to a current priority, signalling increased scrutiny of how financial institutions identify, monitor and report transactions suspected to be linked to terrorist activities.
Politics Nigeria reports that the development was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Hakama Sidi-Ali.
According to the CBN, its enhanced supervisory attention will focus on four critical areas including terrorism financing risk management, transaction monitoring, implementation of targeted financial sanctions and suspicious transaction reporting.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has elevated terrorism financing supervision to a current supervisory priority, as part of its ongoing commitment to protecting the Nigerian financial system from abuse by illicit actors,” the bank stated.
It is understood that the regulator’s latest position places greater responsibility on banks, payment service banks and other regulated financial institutions to ensure that their systems are capable of detecting unusual or potentially suspicious financial activities.
The CBN said it would also intensify checks on institutions’ compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations.
It explained that supervision would continue under a risk-based framework, combining on-site examinations with off-site monitoring to identify weaknesses and ensure that financial institutions maintain effective controls.
“The bank will continue to apply a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagement, to support effective AML/CFT/CPF controls across the financial sector in line with existing legal and regulatory obligations,” the statement added.
AML/CFT/CPF covers measures against money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.
The latest emphasis on targeted financial sanctions is particularly significant as such measures are designed to restrict designated individuals and entities from accessing, transferring or otherwise using funds within the formal financial system.
Financial institutions are also expected to strengthen their suspicious transaction reporting mechanisms and promptly escalate activities that could indicate financial crimes or terrorism financing.
The CBN said the intensified supervision formed part of Nigeria’s wider domestic and international efforts to combat terrorism financing, proliferation financing and other threats to financial integrity.
“This supervisory focus also supports Nigeria’s ongoing domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, financial integrity, and the protection of the financial system,” it said.
The apex bank added that it would undertake further supervisory engagements where necessary.
This latest action builds on an earlier directive by the CBN ordering financial institutions to immediately freeze the accounts and assets of individuals and companies designated over terrorism and terrorism financing.
The directive, contained in a circular dated June 24, 2026, was issued by the CBN’s Compliance Department to banks, Payment Service Banks and other financial institutions regulated under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020.
That followed terrorism-related sanctions imposed by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee and the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order 13224, as amended.
