President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has enacted the Virtual Assets Coordination Executive Order 2026. According to his media office, this directive aims to bolster collaboration between financial, revenue, and capital market regulators to safeguard the public from digital asset fraud.
Invoking Section 5 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, the President stated that this order is effective immediately. He emphasized the need to prevent unregistered entities from exploiting regulatory loopholes that lead to financial losses for citizens. The initiative seeks to harmonize supervision without imposing additional bureaucratic burdens or overriding the specific authority of current agencies.
To enforce these measures, the President created the Virtual Asset Council. The Central Bank of Nigeria leads this body, supported by the Nigeria Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission as vice-chairs, along with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Office of the National Security Adviser. This Council is tasked with establishing a unified legal framework that integrates with national security and economic goals.
The order also launches the Virtual Asset Office, based at the Central Bank of Nigeria, to serve as the operational arm. This office will utilize a shared technological platform to facilitate real-time data exchange and reporting between agencies while ensuring each organization maintains control over its proprietary information.