By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Two former employees of Access Bank Plc, identified as Mr Obadofin Daniel Bamise and Ms Hadiza Oyiza Yakubu, have been convicted and sentenced by Justice A.A. Bello of the Kaduna State High Court for theft.

The convicts were found guilty of a separate one-count charge of theft against them by the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

They carried out unauthorised withdrawals on the accounts of 305 customers of Access Bank, who were beneficiaries of the federal government’s Palliative Scheme, totalling N7.8 million. They posted the unauthorised withdrawals to the Palliative Scheme’s coordinators’ accounts.

After pleading “guilty” to the charges against them, Justice Bello convicted and sentenced both of them to seven years imprisonment each, with an option of a N50,000 fine each.

According to a statement from the EFCC, the charge against Mr Bamise was, “That you, Obadofin Bamise Daniel sometime between the 5th of November, 2024 and 23rd of January, 2025 in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while being an employee of Access Bank Plc did in your capacity as an employee committed theft in the sum of N433.000 being property in possession of Access Bank Plc and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 274 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under same Law.”

The charge against Ms Yakubu was, “That you, Hadiza Oyiza Yakubu sometimes between the 5th of November, 2024 and 23rd of January, 2025 in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while being an employee of Access Bank Plc did in your capacity as an employee committed theft in the sum of N806,000 being property in possession of Access Bank Plc and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 274 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under same Law.”

By Adedapo Adesanya

Leading payments technology company, Paystack, has tapped into the AI wave for businesses with the introduction of an AI-powered “Command Centre” that allows businesses to interact with their payment data using plain-language questions instead of manually navigating dashboards.

The redesigned launch marks a major evolution in how businesses interact with the company’s 10-year-old product, which has helped to monitor transactions, manage settlements, review disputes, and run day-to-day payment operations for thousands of merchants.

The revamped dashboard, built on Pax, Paystack’s internal design system, includes the AI-native Command Centre, which is embedded directly into the Dashboard, allowing businesses to ask questions in plain language and receive answers grounded in their own Paystack data, as text, tables, or charts.

The system combines GPT models, structured data retrieval, and visualisation tools to deliver responses in the most relevant format.

It also has a simpler product architecture, with navigation reorganised into two core sections: Payments and Products, making it easier for merchants to find what they need and scale as Paystack’s offerings grow.

In a statement, the company said it also has full mobile parity that makes every screen, feature, and action available on mobile as well as desktop. It also offers a dark mode feature, as well as stronger analytics and clearer navigation built into the foundation of the product

“Businesses don’t come to their dashboard because they want to click through pages. They come because they have questions,” said Ms Dara Assim-Ita, Senior Product Designer at Paystack, who led the rebuild.

“Over the last decade, we have seen firsthand how much time merchants lose navigating tools that were built to display data rather than deliver answers. With this rebuild, we have changed that. Merchants can now simply ask ‘What happened with this transaction?’ or ‘Why is revenue down this week?’ and get a direct answer. The goal is to make the Dashboard feel less like a static reporting tool and more like an intelligent command centre – one that helps merchants understand what’s happening, find what they need faster, and make better decisions.”

To support the experience, Paystack built a new service called Project Canvas API, which handles conversations, connects to model providers, and interfaces with existing Paystack systems.

As the Dashboard handles sensitive financial data, the system was built to ensure responses are grounded in real merchant data and screened against safety and compliance requirements before being returned.

The company also worked closely with its Data Protection and Privacy team, completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment, and ran extensive adversarial testing ahead of launch.

“We are at a point where artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming integral to how businesses operate, and Paystack is committed to being on that curve for our merchants. The most powerful application of AI disappears into the work people are already trying to do, and that was the design principle behind this,” Ms Assim-Ita added.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has urged banks to remain vigilant and take proactive measures against emerging risks following the conclusion of the banking sector recapitalisation exercise.

He made the call while announcing the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, where the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was retained at 26.5 per cent amid sustained inflationary pressures and global economic uncertainties.

According to him, the MPC welcomed the successful recapitalisation exercise, which resulted in the emergence of 33 stronger banks with improved financial soundness indicators and greater capacity to support economic growth.

However, he warned that the strengthening of balance sheets must be matched with strong risk management frameworks to safeguard financial system stability.

“The MPC also noted with satisfaction the successful conclusion of the banking recapitalisation exercise, which culminated in the emergence of 33 banks with stronger financial soundness indicators enhancing their capacity to support the economy,” Mr Cardoso said.

The central banker added that the committee “urged the banks to remain proactive and adopt necessary measures to address potential post-recapitalisation risks towards preserving financial system stability.”

Mr Cardoso said the decisions were based on a “comprehensive assessment of risks to the outlook,” noting that despite marginal increases in inflation, the broader macroeconomic environment remained stable.

“Although inflation has risen marginally for two consecutive months, largely induced by external shocks, the committee recognises its transitory nature and remains confident that the current macroeconomic environment is sufficiently robust to support a return to disinflation,” he stated.

The committee also highlighted spillover effects from the Middle East crisis, which have pushed up global energy and logistics costs. However, it said the impact on Nigeria had been muted due to earlier policy reforms.

“These include exchange rate stability, improvements in external reserve buffers, strengthened monetary policy transmission, a well-capitalised banking system and ongoing fiscal consolidation, which have significantly bolstered the economy’s ability to absorb external shocks,” Mr Cardoso explained.

He further said the committee noted that a cautious and vigilant policy stance remains necessary to anchor inflation expectations and maintain macroeconomic stability.

“The committee was therefore convinced that the essential conditions for price stability remain firmly in place,” Mr Cardoso said, adding that policymakers will continue to monitor both domestic and global developments closely.