CBN Digitalises Fiscal Data Collection As Senate Moves To Tighten Fintech Regulation

That was as Senate on Tuesday passed for Third Reading, a bill meant to strengthen the regulatory oversight of Nigeria’s rapidly expanding financial technology sector. The proposed amendment to the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) seeks to empower CBN to designate and regulate systemically important fintech companies and other non-bank financial institutions.

Equally, on Tuesday, analysts at Access Bank predicted that CBN will retain its benchmark interest rate at 23 per cent at its November Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, as rising crude oil prices and anticipated election-related spending pose fresh risks to the country’s declining inflation rate. The bank in its November 2026 Monetary Policy Committee Decision Preview also projected that MPC would leave other key monetary policy parameters unchanged, despite improving domestic economic indicators.

The move to strengthen Nigeria’s economic data is being implemented through CBN’s Statistics Department is expected to transform the collection and processing of sub-national fiscal information by replacing the largely manual reporting system with a digital platform designed to improve the timeliness, accuracy, and consistency of data used for economic policymaking. The development came as the apex bank strengthened its forward-looking, data-dependent monetary policy framework and moved towards a more explicit inflation-targeting regime. The new regime places greater emphasis on the availability of reliable and timely economic statistics.

Speaking at the Sub-National Fiscal Statistics Stakeholders’ Engagement, held recently in Abeokuta, Director of the Statistics Department, Dr Usman Moses Okpanachi, said the initiative was designed to strengthen the information chain linking fiscal transactions across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and local governments to evidence-based policymaking.

In a statement, Okpanachi reiterated that reliable fiscal statistics were critical to sound economic management, particularly as they enabled governments to assess revenue performance, expenditure patterns, financing needs, and fiscal pressures. According to him, the information would also provide policymakers with a clearer understanding of public-sector activities and their implications for aggregate demand, liquidity, borrowing conditions and inflation.

He stated, “Timely, reliable data have become increasingly important as the CBN strengthens its forward-looking, data-dependent monetary policy framework and moves towards a more explicit inflation-targeting regime.”

Okpanachi said the largely manual, twice-yearly Sub-National Fiscal Survey faced challenges relating to timeliness, logistics, validation and processing.

According to him, “The digitalisation initiative would address these constraints by standardising data entry, improving validation, simplifying submissions, enabling better monitoring and traceable corrections, and supporting the transition to more frequent and sustainable quarterly rendition of returns.”

Okpanachi emphasised that technology would complement, rather than replace, sound record-keeping, proper reconciliation, and professional judgment.

He urged states and local governments to anchor implementation in timeliness, integrity, and continuity by ensuring prompt submission, proper validation and reconciliation of data, and the appointment of designated focal officers to ensure institutional continuity.

He stated that the initiative’s success would ultimately be measured by more complete and consistent returns, faster submissions, improved validation, and better fiscal information for decision-making. He assured stakeholders of the bank’s continued technical and operational support through its branches and the Statistics Department.

CBN stated that the nationwide engagement commenced on October 26, and was expected to cover the remaining states by December 4, with the FCT scheduled for December 9 and 10.

CBN added, “The practical sessions would enable state and local government fiscal officers to use the digital questionnaire, understand validation requirements, and practise submission and correction procedures.

“As of November 6, 2026, 16 states and their local governments had been covered, with strong government support and attendance reaching 100 per cent in almost all the states visited.

“Following the exercise, trained officers are expected to cascade the knowledge within their institutions and begin submitting returns through the digital platform, while the Statistics Department consolidates implementation outcomes into a national report.”

The initiative, part of CBN’s broader data architecture and transformation agenda, is expected to strengthen fiscal data for state and local government planning, budgeting, and policy evaluation, while providing more timely and reliable information for monetary, financial and fiscal policy decisions.    

Senate Passes Bill to Bring Big Fintechs, Non-Bank Financial Institutions Under CBN Regulation 

Senate on Tuesday passed for Third Reading a bill meant to strengthen the regulatory oversight of Nigeria’s rapidly expanding financial technology sector. The proposed amendment to the BOFIA seeks to empower CBN to designate and regulate systemically important fintech companies and other non-bank financial institutions. The proposed legislation was designed to bring financial institutions whose size, transaction volumes, customer base, and operational interconnectedness could pose risks to the country’s financial stability under enhanced regulatory supervision.