The Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes has screened Hafsat Bakari as the director/chief executive officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
President Bola Tinubu had last week nominated Bakari to head the NFIU pending her confirmation by the Senate.
By her appointment, Bakari is to replace Modibbo Tukur who was relieved of his job by President Tinubu in June 2023.
Bakari is a lawyer and financial intelligence expert with years of experience in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing.
She is said to have “enough experience to discharge the duties.”
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Before her nomination for appointment as the CEO of the NFIU, Bakari served as deputy director at the NFIU, and was at different times the Head of the General Services Unit; Head of the Strategy and Reorientation Unit, and Head of the Board Secretariat of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Emmanuel Menga Udende during a chat with reporters after the screening, expressed confidence that Ms. Bakare “will bring her wealth of experience and expertise to bear in the discharge of her duties in this critical role, especially given the President Tinubu’s war against illicit financial flows and other sharp practices currently prevalent in segments of the nation’s foreign exchange markets.”
The NFIU is the agency responsible for collecting and analyzing disclosures from reporting organizations, to produce financial intelligence to other agencies combating money laundering, terrorism, and other financial crimes.
The NFIU was established in 2004 as an autonomous unit within the central coordinating body for the country’s Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) framework of Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN).
It also operates as part of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).