Tax Crimes and Fraud Dominate Nigeria's Financial Reports

In 2025, tax crimes and fraud accounted for over 50% of financial crime intelligence reports disseminated to law enforcement and regulatory authorities in Nigeria, as stated in the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit’s (NFIU) 2025 Annual Report. The NFIU, which operates under the Central Bank of Nigeria, is tasked with receiving disclosures, analyzing financial data, and producing intelligence to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The report indicated that tax crimes related to direct and indirect taxes made up 30% of the reports, marking it as the largest category. Additionally, fraud was identified as a dominant predicate offence, with increasing risks from Ponzi schemes, cryptocurrency scams, and hacking-related fraud.

Nigeria reportedly loses approximately $17.72 billion annually to illicit financial flows, according to Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of State for Finance. In 2025, banks and fintech companies submitted 42,082 Suspicious Transaction Reports to the NFIU, with Deposit Money Banks contributing 92% of these filings.

Efforts to strengthen monitoring of financial activities continue to be a priority for Nigerian authorities.