Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), said it will start crackdown on ghost businesses across the country, amidst concerns about lax regulation of companies’ financial dealings.
NFIU, is the Nigerian arm of the global financial intelligence Units (FIUs) domiciled within the EFCC as an autonomous unit and operating in the African Region.
The NFIU seeks to comply with international standards on combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and proliferation.
Moddibo Tukur, head of the agency, said that the businesses that were registered without physical addresses constitute an economic challenge to the country and would be deregistered.
He stated this during a visit to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , adding that “If anyone establishes a company, it has to be a company indeed and we have to be firm on this”
Mr Tukur said. “So, we have to step up regulation to avoid fraudulent transactions.”
A new set of guidelines would be announced before September, and implementation would commence a few weeks after that.
The financial intelligence chief said companies without physical addresses are shell companies, and they are usually registered and operated to shield the identity of their beneficial owners.
While Nigeria is not notorious as a haven for shell companies, the country is replete with firms that use fictitious registration to take lucrative government contracts — a critical part of the larger corruption problem.
Mr Tukur said the policy was being aggressively pursued ahead of a single-currency initiative of ECOWAS states.
“We know that capital and investments will move across borders and it is a single currency,” he said.
“We will publish the parameters and also give them enough time to regularise after which those that do not comply before the deadline will be shut down.”
