Expert: Nigerian banks need AI-native AML, not merely automated systems

Nigerian banks need anti-money-laundering systems that operate inside live transactions, not automated tools that review activity only after the money has moved, according to technology consultant Osagie Kingsley Omoruyi.

The director of innovation and technology at Datalink Consulting said deadlines set by the Central Bank of Nigeria require banks to move away from manual, batch-based controls and build fully automated, real-time systems. He described the shift as the end of an era in which banks treated AML as a nightly clean-up exercise.

Omoruyi pointed to a recent Federal High Court order in Lagos involving 71 banks and fintech companies. The institutions were ordered to freeze accounts allegedly holding part of N1.34 billion that Access Bank said had been moved from customer accounts without authorization through its SME app. The case remains before the court and has been adjourned to August 31, while the figures have not been proven.

“You don’t have to look far for proof. Earlier this month, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered 71 banks and fintechs to freeze accounts allegedly holding part of the N1.34 billion that Access Bank says was moved out of customer accounts without authorisation through its SME app,” Omoruyi said. “The case is still before the court, adjourned to 31 August, and the figures remain unproven. But the point stands: money moved fast enough, and split across enough institutions, that recovering it now depends on dozens of banks checking their own systems and hoping the funds haven’t moved again.”

He characterized that pattern as “layering” in an active court filing rather than merely a textbook description. Omoruyi said the CBN mandate rests on three pillars, beginning with real-time monitoring during the transaction itself. Customer identity must also influence transaction decisions directly, with BVN and NIN data actively informing risk scores for each transaction.

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You don’t have to look far for proof. Earlier this month, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered 71 banks and fintechs to freeze accounts allegedly holding part of the N1.34 billion that Access Bank says was moved out of customer accounts without authorisation through its SME app. The case is still before the court, adjourned to 31 August, and the figures remain unproven. But the point stands: money moved fast enough, and split across enough institutions, that recovering it now depends on dozens of banks checking their own systems and hoping the funds haven’t moved again.