News
CIBN Commences Tutorial Session for Agency Banking Certification Examination

Tutorial sessions for the students registered for the October 2024 diet examinations for Agency Banking Certification of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) have begun.
The first in the series of the tutorial session commenced on Saturday July 20, 2024 and will end on Sunday July 28, 2024.The dates for subsequent sessions being jointly organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and FIC Professionals Network Plc, will be announced later.
The organisers are being supported by the industry associations comprising of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Association of Mobile Money Operators of Nigeria (AMMON) and Association of Mobile Bank Operators (AMBO).
The sessions will focus on the four modules of the Foundation level of the Certification and avail the students the tips on how to prepare for and pass the examinations.
It would be recalled that CIBN unveiled the agency banking certification programme last year for Point of Sales (POS) agents, NIN /BVN agents, Agent network managers, customer service officers, agent banking personnel in the banks and Fintech companies.
One of the organisers, Mr. Segun Shonubi, Executive Director, FIC Professionals Network Plc stated that the main purpose of the tutorial sessions was to help the students to better understand the course and enhance their performance in the examinations.
The examinations which have been scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2024 and Wednesday, October 9, 2024 will be conducted through Remote Online Proctoring to enable students write from the comforts of their homes or any place of their choices.
In addition, plans are being put in place for practice questions to be made available for the students on the Institute’s e-learning platform. This is to enable the students to practice and get acquainted with the format to aid their preparations.
Registration for the examinations is still open to interested students via www.myabc.ng till September16, 2024.
Mr Ken Opara, former President and Chairman of Council, CIBN, said the Agent banking certification program (ABC) was introduced to address capacity challenge in the ecosystem.
“Agent banking has been the key driver of financial inclusion, which creates financial access points and ultimately eradicating poverty.
“It is democratizing banking services, taking it to the grass root and connecting to the nooks and crane of the country.
“The certification programme, which details provides all round knowledge, practical engagement with industry experts and participation in standard procedures for conducting Agent banking business in Nigeria,” he said.
Fasasi Sarafadeen Atanda, member, CIBN sub-committee on Agent Banking Certification programme, said that Nigerians can now look forward to more knowledgeable and professional POS Agents, mobile money agents, bank customer service desk that knows what to do when you are debited by POS, more understanding from security agents that will see certified agents and treat cases from agent transaction professionally etc.
“It has been a lot of work from the ideation, to conception, to proposition, to adoption and to commission in the programme.
“There is a lot of complains about proliferation of unregistered agents in the ecosystem. What we are doing is banking because when you are doing cash -in cash- out, account opening among others. Most of these services require professionalism.
“The account opening that we pushed for, resulted to not palatable experience because greater per centage of accounts opened at agent location were used for fraud. This actually made some banks to stop account opening at agent location.
“Not every agent can handle Biometric Verification Number and National Identity Number, any agent that wants to handle these registrations must be certified by CIBN. We have seen that most of the error seen in the process are from agent location.
“They do sharp practices, unethical practices, not doing due-diligence due to poor training and lack of professionalism, if they had pass through this process of certification, they would have been trained on maintaining ethical standard,” he said.
News
DBN Awards N13m in Grants to Tech Startups

Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has awarded a total of N13 million in grants to three standout tech startups at the 2025 Techpreneur Summit held in Lagos, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and inclusive growth among Nigeria’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The winners include: BuyScrap, a digital marketplace for recyclable materials – N6 million; Qiqi Farms, which connects local farmers to hospitality and export markets – N4 million; Eco-Cyclers, a youth-led recycling initiative based in Enugu – N3 million
Alongside the grant awards, DBN also launched a new digital data asset, a first-of-its-kind platform aimed at enabling data-driven decisions within the MSME ecosystem.
The platform offers deep insights into business trends, sector-specific challenges, and growth opportunities—supporting smarter policymaking and targeted investments.
In his keynote address in Lagos, Tony Okpanachi, managing director/ CEO, DBN, described the event’s theme, “CTRL + SHIFT: Tech Empowered Movement for Naija,” as a strategic call to reimagine enterprise development in Nigeria.
“This isn’t just a keyboard shortcut,” he said. “It’s a mindset reset—powered by technology—to build a more inclusive, innovative, and resilient business landscape. From financing to innovation, DBN remains committed to enabling MSMEs to thrive.”
Okpanachi emphasized that the Summit aligns with DBN’s AMPLIFI Strategy, which integrates digital transformation, sustainability, and scalability into its core programs.
He highlighted initiatives such as the Digital Shift Workshops and the Eco-Innovation Challenge as key steps toward embedding innovation in Nigeria’s MSME sector.
Encouraging young innovators, he added: “The future belongs to those bold enough to imagine and build it. DBN is proud to support the ideas that will shape tomorrow.”
A major highlight was the unveiling of the DBN Data Asset—a digital platform designed to provide real-time, evidence-based insights into Nigeria’s MSME landscape.
The platform combines DBN’s proprietary data with external sources like the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to offer a comprehensive view of MSME performance by region and sector.
Jeremy Dan Okayi, DBN’s Head of Strategy, Policy & Innovation, described the platform as: “A reservoir of insight, potential, and direction—built on two years of collaboration and shared vision. This tool will support informed decision-making across the public and private sectors.”
News
FCCPC Shuts France, Belgium, and Italy Visa Centres in Abuja Over Alleged Consumer Rights Violations

In a bold enforcement action, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), supported by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has sealed off the visa application centres of France, Belgium, and Italy in Abuja over alleged consumer protection breaches and obstruction of regulatory investigations.
The affected centres—located at Mukhtar El-Yakub House in the Central Business District and operated by TLS Contact, a Teleperformance Company—were shut down following reports that they refused to accept formal correspondence from the FCCPC regarding a consumer complaint. The Commission cited further infractions, including obstruction of investigation and alleged assault of its officers during lawful duties.
Speaking to journalists at the scene, Mrs. Boladale Adeyinka, Director of Surveillance and Investigations at the FCCPC, explained: “This is an enforcement operation against TLS. On March 25, 2025, we served them a letter to address a consumer complaint, which they refused to accept. Instead, TLS officers assaulted our team, and in a subsequent visit on June 17, they also allegedly assaulted uniformed police officers.”
Citing Section 33 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), Mrs. Adeyinka emphasized that failure to comply with Commission directives constitutes a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment, fines of up to ₦20 million, or both.
TLS has been ordered to appear before the Commission on June 20, 2025, to provide testimony, submit evidence, and make formal depositions. The company may be held liable for any financial losses suffered by applicants due to the disruption of visa services.
Despite multiple requests for comment, management at TLS Contact declined to respond as of press time.
News
How and Why N210 Trillion is Missing in NNPCL – CFO

Adedapo Segun, chief financial officer (CFO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has explained why there is a missing sum of N210 trillion in the company’s audited financial statement spanning from 2017 to 2023.
According to Segun, the missing funds are cash calls requested by joint venture (JV) partners and settlement to the JVs.
He spokeat a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada.
Segun was responding to an alarm raised by the committee over missing N210 trillion in NNPCL’s audited financial statement.
Recall that Wadada issued a one-week ultimatum to NNPCL to account for the missing N210 trillion.
Reacting, Segun said, “The N103 trillion and N107 trillion are made up of joint venture cash calls that have been requested by the JV operators and JV cash call payments made by NNPCL, which are yet to be reconciled because governance procedures were not done at that time.
“That is why you see the description reflecting those two items would be washed out because they are two sides of the same transaction, which is the cash calls by JV partners and the settlement by NNPCL.”
However, Habu Sadeik, a financial analyst, in a post on X on Thursday, said Segun’s response was unsatisfactory.
Saidik faulted NNPCL’s response about the fund discrepancies, noting that something is not right with the audited financial statement.
“Forget about the senators’ lack of knowledge.
“The CFO’s response is not satisfactory. Are you saying that cash calls worth hundreds of trillions are just appearing on your FS only in 2024 without 31 disclosure?
“If it’s a cash call, why hasn’t the disclosure said so?
“Which cash call is over 100 trillion?
“Something is definitely not right, and I hope they retrospectively correct that FS.
“Someone somewhere did a chef’s work,” he wrote on X.
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