The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has vowed to intensify its scrutiny of banks, with greater emphasis on corporate governance, asset quality, liquidity and large exposures as the banking sector enters the post-recapitalisation era.
The apex bank said stronger capital buffers alone would not guarantee a resilient financial system, stressing the need for sound governance, effective risk management and strong internal controls across financial institutions.
The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Dr Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 38th Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) Seminar in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme, “Towards a Robust and Resilient Financial System in the Post-Banking Sector Recapitalisation Era,” Abdullahi said the CBN would sustain risk-based supervision, macroprudential surveillance and enhanced stress testing.
He said banks would be expected to identify risks early and ensure that lending decisions were based on viable economic projects rather than the size of their capital base.
According to him, the apex bank would also strengthen its focus on customer data protection, reliable payment services and the ability of financial institutions to recover quickly from operational disruptions.
Abdullahi disclosed that 33 banks had met the revised minimum capital requirements at the end of the two-year recapitalisation programme, raising a combined ₦4.65 trillion.
The recapitalisation exercise, announced in March 2024, was designed to strengthen banks’ capital buffers and enhance their capacity to support Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The CBN deputy governor said adequately capitalised banks would be better positioned to finance long-term infrastructure, support industrial expansion, facilitate international trade and compete in regional and global markets.
Beyond the banking sector, Abdullahi highlighted improvements in several macroeconomic indicators, particularly in the foreign exchange market.
He said reforms had narrowed the gap between the official and parallel-market exchange rates from an average of 68.2 per cent between January and May 2023 to below two per cent.
He recalled that the foreign exchange market had previously been fragmented, with exchange-rate gaps averaging more than 60 per cent in 2022 and exceeding 100 per cent at certain periods.
Abdullahi also disclosed that autonomous sources contributed $7.33 billion, representing nearly 68 per cent of the $10.82 billion total foreign exchange inflows recorded in July 2026.
He said remittances through International Money Transfer Operators reached $950 million during the month, while net foreign portfolio inflows stood at $6.31 billion between January and August 2026.
However, he cautioned that portfolio investments remained vulnerable to sudden reversals.
The CBN said Nigeria’s gross external reserves rose to $55.60 billion as of September 11, 2026, while end-August reserves provided 11.3 months of import cover.
On inflation, Abdullahi said headline inflation had moderated from 34.8 per cent in December 2024 to 15.43 per cent in July 2026.
He also disclosed that the economy expanded by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, driven largely by growth outside the oil sector.
Despite the reported improvements, the CBN deputy governor acknowledged that households and businesses continued to face economic pressures.
He stressed that the success of the recapitalisation programme should ultimately be measured by the quality of banking services and productive lending delivered to the wider economy.
Abdullahi said the benefits of banking reforms should extend beyond large corporations to rural communities, women, young entrepreneurs and other underserved groups.
He also urged businesses seeking bank credit to strengthen their corporate transparency, governance and sustainability practices, noting that such factors were increasingly influencing lending decisions.
The newly appointed Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at the CBN, Michael Chukwuemeka Akuka, described the FICAN seminar as an important platform for improving public understanding of monetary policy and financial-sector reforms.
Akuka urged finance correspondents and business editors to provide deeper context when reporting CBN policies, stressing the importance of accurate information in shaping public understanding of economic reforms.
Earlier, the Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Institutional Relations, Hakama Sidi Ali, reaffirmed the CBN’s commitment to working with the media to promote accurate reporting of financial-sector developments.
She commended finance correspondents for their role in communicating monetary and banking policies to Nigerians and urged continued cooperation with the bank’s new corporate communications leadership.
Abdullahi declared the two-day seminar open and commended FICAN for promoting ethics, professionalism and public understanding of financial-sector issues.
