Abuja, April 15, 2025 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned banks to avoid illicit funds in their bid to meet the new capital requirements in the ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
Dr Olubukola Akinwumi, the CBN Director of Banking Supervision Department, gave the warning in Abuja Monday at the ongoing 36th Finance Correspondents Association and Business Editors Seminar.
Akinwunmi said the apex bank would verify all the sources of the funds to ensure that all funds meant for recapitalization were from credible sources.
He said the bank had outlined credible avenues for banks to raise capital like initial public offerings, rights issues, private placements, mergers and acquisitions.
The director said illicit capital inflows could destabilise the financial system and undermine the goals of the recapitalisation exercise.
Akinwunmi said the recapitalisation was ideally meant to equip the financial sector to handle both domestic and global economic challenges.
He said the exercise was aimed at strengthening the financial sector to meet the demand of the %1 trillion economy as being envisaged by the current administration.
The director said well capitalized banks would be better positioned to support critical sectors like infrastructure, manufacturing and agriculture.
Ms. Emem Usoro, a Deputy Governor in CBN, said the recapitalisation was essential for powering economic growth and ensuring Nigeria could compete favourably with its global counterparts.
She described the exercise as a forward-looking step in response to the changing dynamics in the global financial system and a necessary step toward building a resilient and competitive financial system.
The bank recapitalization is to boost the capacity of Nigerian banks to be able to meet the demands of a $1 trillion economy by 2030 as being targeted by President Bola Tinubu.
Under the new capital framework, international commercial banks are required to raise their minimum capital base to ₦500 billion, national banks ₦200 billion and regional banks ₦50 billion.
