AN APPRAISAL OF THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR COMBATING TERRORISM FINANCING IN NIGERIA: COMPLIANCE AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The phenomenon of terrorism financing hovers over a spectrum of multiple events which includes movement of money, money laundering, ghost investments, kidnapping for ransom, illegal dealing in Small and Light Weapons (SALW) and corporate or political partnerships behind the scenes. The Nigerian government in a move to show commitment has put in place laws and policies, best described as the legal framework for combating financial terrorism in Nigeria. Institutions and agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Nigerian Police (NPF), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Deposit Money Banks, etc are all stakeholders in the collaborative fight against the financing of terrorism and money laundering in Nigeria. This paper addresses the effectiveness of the existing framework and the challenges with implementation. Using a combination of qualitative and comparative methods, the research involves analysing the legal and institutional framework on combatting terrorism financing, highlighting the gaps and challenges and examining lessons Nigeria cam adopt from other jurisdictions. The prognosis arrived at is simply that it is time to move from the realm of half measures and political complicity to full enforcement and international cooperation to successfully combat terrorism financing.