The Senate on Thursday opened debate on a bill seeking to amend the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 to give the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) explicit powers to designate and supervise systemically important non-bank financial institutions, particularly fast-growing fintech companies now considered critical to Nigeria’s financial infrastructure.
Leading the debate, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, sponsor of the amendment and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, said the reform has become urgent given the rapid evolution of Nigeria’s digital finance landscape. He noted that technology-driven players such as mobile money operators, payment service banks, wallet providers, switching firms and digital lenders now operate at unprecedented scale.
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Abiru said these companies collectively serve tens of millions of Nigerians, process huge daily transaction volumes, and control large pools of sensitive financial data, yet remain outside the highest tier of statutory oversight despite their systemic importance.
“A non-bank institution, because of its market dominance, data concentration, customer reach or technological capacity, may pose risks equal to or even greater than those posed by a traditional bank,” he said.
“We are therefore confronted with a regulatory gap that leaves critical parts of the financial system outside the highest level of oversight. This bill seeks to correct that mischief.”
He warned that without strengthening BOFIA, Nigeria could be exposed to data insecurity, foreign control of key financial infrastructure, and broader national-security vulnerabilities. Many major fintech platforms, he noted, store customer data abroad or run on offshore cloud networks, raising questions around data sovereignty and regulatory access.
Abiru referenced the CBN’s temporary suspension of fintech onboarding in April 2024 due to KYC gaps, suspicious transactions and money-laundering concerns, a situation he described as evidence of limitations within the current legal framework.
Key proposals in the amendment include:
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A formal structure for designating systemically important fintechs
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A national registry of all fintech operators
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Enhanced supervisory and compliance powers for the CBN
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Stronger data-sovereignty safeguards
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Improved consumer protection mechanisms
Abiru rejected calls for a new standalone fintech regulatory agency, arguing that such duplication would fragment oversight. He noted that fintech supervision is closely linked to existing CBN mandates, including monetary policy, payments regulation and systemic-risk monitoring.
“International best practice overwhelmingly favours integrating fintech oversight within existing regulators, not creating new bureaucracies,” he said.
Oshiomhole raises personal experience, accountability concerns
Contributing to the debate, Senator Adams Oshiomhole said his personal banking accounts were once compromised through a fintech platform, highlighting what he described as accountability gaps in the sector. He expressed concern that the identities of many key owners of online financial institutions remain unknown.
“I know the directors of our regular banks, but I can’t say the same of these fintech banks — Moniepoint, Opay and others,” he said.
Oshiomhole argued that robust regulation would protect consumers and strengthen the integrity of digital financial services.
Next steps
The Senate unanimously passed the amendment bill for second reading and referred it to the Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions for further legislative scrutiny.
