The Special Unit Against Money Laundering, SCUML, of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was declared Nigeria’s Most Effective Regulatory Agency of the Year 2025 on Thursday, September 25, 2025, in Abuja.
Governance Today Nigeria, in collaboration with the African Independent Good Governance Monitoring Network, AGMN, gave the award to the Unit for its “contribution to the fight against money laundering and countering terrorist financing through its regulatory standpoint”.
SCUML achieved the feat in the Public Governance Category after beating other nominees. The organisers also inducted the Unit into its Hall of Fame.
The award was conferred on SCUML at the group’s National Merit Awards ceremony on “ICONS of Good Governance.
In his opening remarks, Dr Sylvester Omose, the Convener and Founder of AGMN, justified SCUML’s choice for the Award, pointing out that the Unit’s doggedness in effectively delivering on its mandate is exceptional and commendable.
According to him, SCUML is exceptional owing to its great performance as a financial regulatory Unit and because of its outstanding actions in the face of daunting tasks of tackling money laundering and countering terrorist financing and corruption.
He stated that SCUML’s efforts in making businesses and professions comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Terrorist Financing (CFT) obligations, such as reporting suspicious transactions and implementing risk assessments, to ensure that their activities are not exploited for illegal purposes is highly commendable.
“There is a need for commendation for communities, entities, states, individuals and institutions that are redefining systems adding values and promoting good governance in our country. They deserve commendation instead of condemnation. Our organisation is out to support and reward such entities and individuals so that they can do more. Our award is not for pecuniary reasons, it’s to create healthy competition among government institutions to deliver on their mandate of service delivery”, he said.
He tasked the Nigerian media to refocus on their agenda-setting by encouraging community development, stressing that it’s time for the media to adopt strategic communication in its reportage.
The anchor of the event, Tina Kenechukwu, showered encomiums on SCUML while narrating her personal experience with the Unit. According to her, SCUML won the Award because the Unit has redefined business operations in Nigeria by giving itself some level of credibility. She added that the Unit has done well in its unique mandate of registering Designated Non-Financial Institutions, Businesses and Professions, DNFIBPs, enhancing their compliance, oversight, training and retraining of their staff and capacity building.
“These feats are required today for growth, development and safeguarding the nation from money laundering and terrorism financing through these businesses. Particularly for this SCUML, we took our time to visit the EFCC-SCUML, because we heard a lot of things concerning them, but we decided to go and see things for ourselves as undercover journalists. When we got there, we decided to go through the process to see if the system would be circumvented. Ladies and gentlemen, we went there and everything went smoothly and seamlessly”, she said
“The day we went there, we decided to go with multiple registrations, you know how it is in Nigeria, when you have like two to three registrations, some will tell you to bring them and bring money, but all of that didn’t happen. At no point or time did anybody ask for a bribe, at no point did anybody ask for anything to deliver on the assignment. Even when we got the certificate we required, we decided to say okay, we didn’t expect that the registration would be seamless, we decided to say let’s appreciate someone with a token of recharge cards, they said ‘No’ it’s not allowed’. Ladies and gentlemen, this is happening in Abuja, Nigeria”, she said.
Continuing, she said, “and I also have a personal experience with SCUML, when my husband was to register his company. He is someone who is technology savvy and decided he was not going to go anywhere but to sit with his computer and do the registration.
“He started and finished up with his CAC registration and his certificate was sent to him, he did the SCUML registration and did everything he needed to do with the SCUML, uploaded all his documents and he said he wanted to try the process and see if it was working, and in his confined room, he received his SCUML Certificate via his email. He did it with no hassles, no stress, he received his certificate, after following the process from step A to step Z, and got the SCUML certificate. These people are doing amazingly well.”
In his response while receiving the award, SCUML Director, Deputy Commander of the EFCC, DCE Harry Erin, on behalf of the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, expressed appreciation and gratitude for the honour and recognition, reiterating the Commission’s commitment to ensuring international best practices in the fight against money laundering and countering terrorist financing.
Erin said the seamlessness in applying for SCUML certificate was informed by the remodelling of the SCUML portal to improve on its service delivery without any bottlenecks.
He reiterated that SCUML’s registration is free and can be completed on the official website. “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which oversees SCUML does not charge for the registration of the certificate.
Today, SCUML’s registration takes a day due to the efficiency in clearing application and the completeness of documents while an e-certificate takes 48 hours after the application is approved and signed by the Director of SCUML”.
“Accurate documentation is critical for a smooth process, and document verification doesn’t take time. Now, SCUML responds promptly to requests, additional information or clarification, as quickly as possible, to keep the process moving due to the deployment of several staff on the hotline desk across the country. The desk officers opened as early as 8:30 to 5pm, daily.
He further disclosed that the SCUML’s registration portal is fully functional and accessible, processing an average of 600 applications daily from businesses and individuals across Nigeria.
“The recent upgrade of its digital facility has, in the last month, undergone multiple updates to improve subscribers’ know-how and streamline certification procedures”, he said.
