Alex Enumah in Abuja
The collaboration between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in the fight against financial crimes has earned Nigeria the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and World Bank’s Egmont Group Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative Award, at the 32nd Egmont Group Plenary of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) held in Baku, Azerbaijan, between July 5 and 10, 2026.
The StAR Award is officially one of the highest operational honours within the global financial intelligence community.
It celebrates exceptional instances where exchange and professional analysis of financial intelligence advances investigations, disrupts illicit financial networks, and secures success in the pursuit of justice.
The Group observed that, “the award is a distinction strictly reserved for outstanding cases that exemplify innovation, international cooperation, operational effectiveness, and measurable impact,” in the fight against financial crimes.
It further observed that the winning EFCC-NFIU framework serves as a global model on how secure, timely intelligence sharing between domestic institutions and international partners can result in asset recovery, adding that the winning case perfectly showcased how the NFIU’s intelligence-driven data successfully fed into and strengthened EFCC’s law enforcement investigations, resulting in a monumental recovery of stolen assets.
The Egmont Group’s plenary serves as its principal decision making forum that provides an opportunity for heads of Financial Intelligence Units, FIUs to engage in strategic dialogue, exchange expertise, and guide the Group’s priorities.
The 2026 Plenary included a thematic discussion, focused on strengthening public private partnerships, reflecting the evolving nature of financial crime and the need for enhanced collaboration between FIUs and relevant stakeholders.
The Egmont Group is a network of 180-member FIUs, dedicated to improving collaboration and exchange of financial intelligence globally. It supports national and international efforts to detect, deter, and disrupt financial crime and facilitates the exchange of information, knowledge, and cooperation among its members.