President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, to harmonise the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen inter-agency collaboration, and protect Nigerians from fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity threats and revenue losses.
The Executive Order, which took immediate effect, establishes a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as vice-chairs. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
It also creates a Virtual Asset Office, domiciled at the CBN, to coordinate information sharing, applications and reporting among relevant agencies.
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga in a statement said the Order does not create a new regulator or alter the statutory powers of existing agencies. Instead, it provides a coordinated framework under which the SEC will regulate securities-related virtual assets, while the CBN will oversee payment, settlement, custody and other non-security virtual asset services.
The Order also provides for a CBN regulatory sandbox for virtual asset and blockchain innovations, while the Nigeria Revenue Service will introduce a tax policy for the sector. In addition, the Federal Government is finalising a Virtual Assets White Paper to guide long-term policy.
President Tinubu directed the Council to produce a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to ensure swift implementation of the Executive Order.
