The Nigerian Senate has called for a stronger regulatory framework designed to position the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the centre of coordinating oversight for the country's rapidly expanding financial technology sector. This call was made on Tuesday by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, during a one-day public hearing at the National Assembly. The move signals a legislative push to bring the dynamic and sometimes volatile fintech industry under more formal and centralized regulatory control.
The joint hearing was convened by the Senate Committees on Banking; ICT and Cyber Security; Capital Market; and Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes to examine ways to strengthen Nigeria’s overall financial regulatory architecture. In parallel, the investigative session also examined the operations of Ponzi schemes in Nigeria, with particular reference to the recent Crypto Bullion Exchange (CBEX) incident. This dual focus highlights lawmakers' concerns about both fostering innovation and protecting citizens from financial fraud in the digital age.
In his remarks, Senator Abiru advocated for specific amendments to the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 to explicitly bring fintech companies under the supervisory authority of the CBN. He said the proposed legislation would create a clear statutory framework for the designation, registration, and enhanced supervision of Systemically Important Institutions, particularly technology-driven financial service providers. This legal change would mark a significant shift, formally integrating these new-age companies into the traditional banking regulatory fold.
The hearing also surfaced other financial regulatory concerns, as the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) raised issues over mandatory compliance certificates, borrowing powers, and a proposed 0.3 per cent levy on companies’ annual profits. These points of discussion indicate that the broader review of financial laws is considering multiple angles of fiscal governance and corporate contribution to national development, beyond just the fintech sector.
In a separate but concurrent development, President Bola Tinubu has initiated plans for the establishment of a Grid Asset Management Company (GAMCO) as part of efforts to address Nigeria’s persistent electricity challenges. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this on Wednesday after a Federal Executive Council meeting, explaining that the initiative is aimed at strengthening the transmission component of Nigeria’s electricity value chain.
Minister Idris noted that the government considers the transmission arm the most critical bottleneck in the country’s quest for stable power supply. He explained that following deregulation, the power sector was unbundled into generation, transmission, and distribution segments, but the transmission arm remains the weakest link in the system. The creation of GAMCO represents a targeted intervention to manage and upgrade the national grid infrastructure, which is crucial for economic growth.
On the security front, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, on Wednesday inaugurated a committee on state police. During his inaugural conference with senior officers at the Peacekeeping Conference Centre in Abuja, Disu charged the seven-member committee to be professional, emphasizing the importance of state police to the security of the country. The IGP told the committee that the task before them is both significant and timely, and one that will shape the framework through which state policing may operate in Nigeria.
The committee is expected to review existing policing models within and outside Nigeria, assess community security needs and emerging risks, and propose an operational framework for the establishment and coordination of State Police structures. It will also address issues relating to recruitment, training, standards, and resource allocation, and develop robust accountability and oversight mechanisms to ensure professionalism and public trust. This step is a major development in the long-running national debate over decentralizing police powers to improve local security responses.
