Central Bank of Nigeria warns banks to treat cyber risk as financial stability threat

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) instructed banks, fintechs, and other financial entities to classify cybersecurity vulnerabilities, technology-vendor failures, and business continuity issues as direct threats to national financial stability. Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, director of the Payments System Supervision Department at the CBN and chairperson of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, addressed this warning during a panel discussion on cyber and systemic risks in the AI-driven future of banking at the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja. She stated that vulnerabilities within a single institution could now propagate through the country's increasingly interconnected financial network due to expanded reliance on fintechs, payment service providers, cloud operators, and other technology companies. Yusuf urged financial institutions to map their dependencies and regularly assess the resilience of third-party providers against cyberattacks and major operational failures. The announcement highlights the regulator's view that cybersecurity is no longer solely an internal risk but a systemic threat.