The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Bakari, has highlighted the pivotal role of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) in Nigeria’s fight against financial crimes.
Speaking at the High-Level Roundtable on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to Combat Financial Crimes in Abuja, Bakari described the BVN as transformative for the nation’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) framework.
The event, jointly hosted by the NFIU and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), brought together stakeholders to explore strategies for tackling financial crimes through enhanced cooperation.
BVN as a game-changer
Bakari credited the BVN initiative, a partnership between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks, for significantly improving financial transaction transparency and reducing identity fraud.
“The BVN provides every bank customer with a unique biometric identifier linked to all their accounts, enhancing monitoring capabilities and reducing fraudulent activities,” she said.
This initiative, according to Bakari, accentuates the potential of PPPs to drive systemic impact in combating financial crimes.
Tackling a complex global threat
Bakari stressed that financial crimes, often international in nature, exploit regulatory and enforcement gaps.
“These crimes undermine economic integrity, threaten national and global security, and facilitate the spread of illicit goods and weapons that destabilize regions,” she said.
- She added that no single organization can combat financial crimes in isolation, advocating for stronger cooperation among stakeholders to share intelligence and align strategies.
- According to her, PPPs offer a structured platform to pool resources, share actionable insights, and counter financial crimes at all levels.
- Bakari called for closer collaboration with international partners, such as the LSEG, to bolster Nigeria’s participation in global financial crime prevention initiatives.
Call for clean investments
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Ojo, also addressed the roundtable, emphasizing the need for clean and transparent investments.
“Collaboration is crucial to fighting financial crime and encouraging clean investment. PPPs must be vetted by the NFIU to ensure funds are properly invested in societal development, rather than being misappropriated,” Ojo said.
He urged government agencies to complement each other’s efforts, fostering shared values and a unified approach to financial crime prevention.
“We want investments that have clear trails, that align with our national goals, and that we can be proud of as a people,” he added.
What you should know
A recent directive from the CBN has mandated every financial account, including that of fintechs, to be linked with BVN before it can be operational.
- This ensures that every account owner is properly identified by their banks and can be easily traced in case of fraud.
- According to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the total registered BVN in the country stood at 63.4 million as of September 2024.
- As of July 2024, NIBSS data shows that the number of active bank accounts in Nigeria stood at 231.1 million.
While a single BVN can be linked to multiple accounts of an individual, the data indicates that there is a wide gap between the registered BVNs and the number of bank accounts in the country.
