Tax crimes and fraud accounted for 51% of financial crime intelligence reports disseminated to law enforcement and regulatory authorities in Nigeria in 2025, underscoring the scale of tax-related offences and fraudulent activity confronting the country’s financial system.
The figure was contained in the 2025 Annual Report of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), which highlighted persistent financial crime risks and increased monitoring of transactions across the economy.
The NFIU, Nigeria’s central financial intelligence agency domiciled within the Central Bank of Nigeria, receives disclosures from reporting entities, analyses financial information and provides actionable intelligence to competent authorities to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
What the NFIU said
The NFIU said it provides two categories of intelligence through its Crime Records Information Management System: proactive and reactive intelligence reports.
Proactive intelligence reports are generated from analysis of disclosures submitted by reporting entities and international counterparts, as well as information obtained from open and closed intelligence sources.
In 2025, the agency disseminated 1,398 proactive intelligence reports to domestic competent authorities for further investigation.
Reactive intelligence reports, meanwhile, are produced in response to requests from competent authorities and support ongoing investigations by providing additional financial information to identify assets, trace proceeds of crime and uncover criminal networks.
The NFIU disseminated 2,033 reactive intelligence reports in 2025.
“In 2025, 1,398 proactive intelligence reports were disseminated to domestic competent authorities for further investigation while NFIU disseminated 2,033 reactive intelligence reports.”
The agency’s breakdown of intelligence reports across the top 10 designated offences showed that tax crimes involving direct and indirect taxes accounted for 30%, making them the largest category.
Fraud followed with 21%, meaning the two offences together accounted for 51% of reports within the top 10 categories.
Money laundering accounted for 15%, while illegal trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances represented 10%.
Bribery and corruption and terrorism, including terrorist financing, each accounted for 8%. Illegal currency exchange trading and participation in an organised criminal group and racketeering each represented 3%, while trafficking in human beings and migrants and smuggling or illegal migration each accounted for 1%.
Fraud remains a major financial crime risk
The high share of fraud also featured prominently in the NFIU’s broader assessment of emerging financial crime risks.
The agency said fraud remains a dominant predicate offence, with growing risks linked to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent crowdfunding arrangements, cryptocurrency-enabled investment scams and hacking-related fraud.
The scale of illicit financial activity also has wider economic implications.
Nigeria loses an estimated $17.72 billion annually to illicit financial flows, according to the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite.
Across Africa, about $88.6 billion is estimated to be lost annually to illicit financial flows, with Nigeria accounting for approximately 20% of the continent’s losses.
Uzoka-Anite disclosed the figures while speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
According to the minister, the losses undermine Nigeria’s capacity to provide essential infrastructure and public services.
Banks account for most suspicious transaction reports
The NFIU report also showed the scale of suspicious financial activity being reported to the agency.
Banks, fintech companies and other reporting entities submitted 42,082 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) to the NFIU in 2025.
Deposit Money Banks accounted for the overwhelming majority, filing 38,715 STRs, or about 92% of the total.
Other reports came from capital market and insurance companies, other financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professions, and virtual asset service providers.
Nigeria tightens financial crime monitoring
Authorities continued to strengthen measures aimed at detecting illicit financial flows and preventing Nigeria’s financial system from being exploited for criminal purposes.
On August 12, the Securities and Exchange Commission directed all capital market-regulated entities to immediately subscribe to the Nigeria Sanctions NigSac Alerts system, following the designation of individuals and entities linked to terrorism financing.
The directive formed part of broader measures requiring regulated entities to strengthen sanctions screening and compliance with targeted financial sanctions.
The SEC also warned that unusual or suspicious transactions must be promptly reported to the NFIU.
The measures add to ongoing efforts by Nigerian authorities to strengthen monitoring of financial flows and prevent the financial system from being used to facilitate terrorism financing, money laundering and other illicit activities.
In October 2025, the NFIU also reiterated that international air travellers carrying more than $10,000 in cash must declare the funds when checking in for their flights.
