The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged Nigerian banks, fintechs, payment service providers and other financial institutions to strengthen their defences against cybersecurity and third-party technology risks.
The Director of the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department and Chairperson of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, Rakiya Yusuf, made the call on Wednesday at the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja.
Speaking during a session on cybersecurity and systemic risks in the AI-driven future of banking, Yusuf warned that the increasing dependence of financial institutions on fintechs, cloud operators, payment service providers and other technology vendors had created new channels for cyber threats.
She said a vulnerability in one bank, fintech or technology provider could quickly spread across interconnected institutions and potentially destabilise the wider financial system.
Yusuf therefore urged financial institutions to look beyond securing their internal systems and strengthen safeguards across the entire financial ecosystem.
“Resilience is not just about preventing an incident. It is about the ability to continue delivering critical services during disruption and to recover quickly afterwards,” she said.
She stressed that stronger collaboration and comprehensive risk management would be essential to maintaining financial stability as the sector becomes increasingly technology-driven.
