The move places greater responsibility on banks and payment service providers to detect and report suspicious terrorism-linked transactions.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has elevated terrorism financing supervision to a current supervisory priority as part of its ongoing commitment to protecting the country’s financial system from abuse by illicit actors.
Hakama Sidi-Ali, Acting Director of the Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, announced the development in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
What the elevated supervision covers
The apex bank said the supervisory priority covers four key areas: terrorism financing risk management, transaction monitoring, implementation of targeted financial sanctions, and suspicious transaction reporting related to terrorism financing.
“This supervisory priority covers, at a high level, terrorism financing risk management, terrorism financing transaction monitoring, targeted financial sanctions implementation, and terrorism financing related suspicious transaction reporting,” the statement read.
The CBN said it would continue applying a risk-based supervisory approach, combining on-site and off-site engagement to strengthen anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) controls across the financial sector.
“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.
Why the move matters for banks
The development places greater responsibility on banks, payment service banks and other regulated financial institutions to ensure their internal systems can detect unusual or potentially suspicious financial activity linked to terrorism financing.
The CBN said it would intensify checks on institutions’ compliance with these obligations, and that supervision would continue under a risk-based framework combining on-site examinations with off-site monitoring to identify weaknesses and ensure financial institutions maintain effective controls.
The move builds on an earlier CBN circular dated 12 March 2026, titled “Addendum to the Revised Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) Operations and Watch-List for the Nigerian Banking Industry 2021,” in which the apex bank informed regulated entities of fresh sanctions issued by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NIGSAC) and the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under Executive Order 13224, as amended.
Part of wider domestic and international cooperation
According to the CBN, the supervisory focus also supports Nigeria’s domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, financial integrity and the protection of the financial system.
“Further supervisory engagement will be undertaken as appropriate,” the apex bank added.
The announcement follows a 25 June directive from the CBN instructing banks and other financial institutions to freeze the accounts of customers accused of terrorism financing.
It also comes as Nigerian authorities intensify scrutiny of terrorism financing channels more broadly, following the NFIU’s own recent disclosure of emerging tactics, including crowdfunding schemes and proxy bank accounts, being exploited to move funds for terrorist operations.
