Nigeria’s fintech sector may be headed for its most significant regulatory shake-up in years. Yet as lawmakers push forward a bill to establish a standalone Fintech Regulatory Commission, the country’s apex financial regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, has remained conspicuously silent.
On March 2, the House of Representatives’ joint committees on digital and electronic banking, banking regulations, science and technology, communications, and capital markets convened a public hearing to consider legislation that would create a new statutory authority dedicated solely to fintech oversight. The bill is sponsored by Fuad Laguda, who argues that Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital finance ecosystem lacks a single, unified regulator.
According to Laguda, the proposed commission would enhance profitability for fintech operators while strengthening consumer protection and data security. The premise is straightforward: Nigeria’s nearly 400 fintech firms operate across payments, lending, savings, and digital banking, yet regulatory oversight remains fragmented among existing agencies.That argument, however, has sharply divided the industry.
Major operators warn that the new body risks duplicating functions already performed by the Central Bank. Maxwell Loko, Vice President of Public and Government Affairs at OPay Digital Services, cautioned that without precise delineation of roles, a parallel regulator could create overlapping licensing regimes, repeated supervisory examinations, higher compliance costs, and regulatory uncertainty factors that may ultimately deter investment.
Loko advocated instead for a single-lead regulator model anchored by the Central Bank, aligning Nigeria with global best practice, where central banks typically supervise payments systems and digital banking frameworks.
Henry Obiekea, Managing Director of FairMoney Microfinance Bank, illustrated the operational friction the proposal could introduce. Under the bill’s framework, the Central Bank would continue determining permissible charges for microfinance banks, while the new commission might oversee how those charges are disclosed and justified. For tech-enabled services ranging from digital KYC to mobile lending platforms additional licensing could become mandatory.
Yet Obiekea stopped short of outright opposition. Formal recognition of digital finance as a distinct sector, he noted, could strengthen investor confidence and enhance consumer trust, particularly as global capital continues to assess Nigeria’s regulatory clarity.
Supporters of the bill argue that such clarity is precisely what is missing. Adede Williams, President of the Association of Telecommunications, Information, Technology, Cable Satellite Network Operators and Allied Services Employers of Nigeria (ATICEN), contends that the absence of an independent fintech regulator has produced inconsistent oversight across the ecosystem. In his view, fragmented supervision poses risks not only to consumers and investors but to broader digital economic stability.
Obioha Otti, Acting President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMBAN), echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that regulation must evolve alongside the sector’s growth. Representing more than two million point-of-sale and mobile money agents nationwide, Otti called for formal integration of registered agents into any new regulatory framework.
The silence from Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank, is particularly striking. If enacted, the bill would effectively establish a parallel statutory authority alongside an institution that currently exercises primary control over mobile money operators, payment service providers, and digital banks.
Whether the Central Bank ultimately supports, resists, or seeks to reshape the proposal remains unclear. What is evident is that the legislative process is advancing, and Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, one of Africa’s most vibrant, may soon face a fundamental restructuring of how it is governed.
For investors, operators, and millions of digital finance users, the debate is no longer theoretical. It is about regulatory certainty, cost efficiency, and the balance of power in Africa’s largest economy.
