Banking
Nigerian Senate Discusses Bill to Punish Loan Defaulters
By Dipo Olowookere
One of the major headaches of banks in Nigeria is the recovery of loans to customers and because of this, many of them are reluctant to grant credit facilities.
It was only recently financial institutions were forced to issue loans to their customers when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandated them to meet a loan-to-deposit ratio of 60 per cent and later to 65 per cent.
The interpretation of this CBN policy is that 65 per cent of a bank’s total customer deposits must be given out as loans. Failure to adhere to this directive attracts fines from the apex bank. A few of them have been sanctioned for this infraction.
The idea behind this, according to the central bank, was to ensure that funds are made available to the real sectors of the economy, especially the manufacturing, the SMEs and others, so as to spur economic activities and boost the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The banks reluctantly adhered to this instruction and those who failed were punished, but the issue of loan recovery was not fully addressed despite the rise in credit bureau agencies in the country.
But to strengthen the financial system and ensure quick loan recovery process, the Senate is looking to come up with laws that would punish loan defaulters.
On Tuesday, a bill for an act to establish a unified scheme for a sound financial system passed second reading at the Senate and was referred to the committee on banking insurance and other financial institutions for scrutiny, with a mandate to report back in four weeks.
According to the sponsor of the bill, Mr Sani Musa, when passed into law, banks would have the authority to track loan defaulters’ account in any financial institution in the country through the Bank Verification Number (BVN).
When this is done, the bank would be empowered to recover the loans from the bank account of the defaulter.
He further said the law will provide penalties for breaches and violations of obligations, thereby enhancing the loan recovery process across banking sectors in Nigeria.
“Before the deregulation of our banking system, the ability of our banks to recover loans has been the bedrock behind the collapse of many commercial banks with a dire consequence to many innocent account holders, which have resulted in the collapse of their businesses, loss of savings and even death.
“In many instances, most economies have consequently experienced high level and increasing rates of unemployment as a result of such negligences of the credit system.
“Today, the situation in Nigeria has become very serious and seemingly intractable and thereby frustrates our effort as a nation toward private driven economy as well as economic diversification and growth.
“In light of the above, there is only one obvious option left for any country where policy measures failed, which is to urgently enact legislation that will address the problems once and for all,” Mr Sani submitted.
Speaking further, the lawmaker described lending as the core business of commercial banks, noting that if they are unable to grant loans because of a bad recovery process, the nation’s economy might suffer for it.
“Credit is seen as the bloodstream of the banking business [and] the [current] situation in Nigeria demands an injection of a healthy bank credit and recovery system that will effectively fasten the pace of growth,” he added.
In his contribution, his colleague at the red chamber, Mr Tolu Odebiyi, said, “I think this is a very timely bill and it will safeguard our economy and creditors from defaulters.”
On his part, the Deputy Senate President, Mr Ovie Omo-Agege, who presided over the session, applauded the sponsor of the bill, stating that, “Clearly, there are challenges in the sector that we need to address and this bill seeks to do just that.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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