President Bola Tinubu has appointed Ms. Hafsat Abubakar Bakari to serve as the Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, saying the appointment is pending her confirmation by the Senate.
“Ms. Bakari is a lawyer and financial intelligence expert with years of experience in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF),” the statement read.
“Before she was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, she served as Deputy Director at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, 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 (EFCC).”
According to the statement, the President is optimistic that Bakare will bring her wealth of experience and expertise to full discharge in this critical role, especially given his administration’s war against illicit financial flows and other sharp practices currently prevalent in segments of the nation’s foreign exchange markets.