The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced the creation of a dedicated Compliance Department aimed at enhancing oversight of non-prudential risks across the country’s financial system.

This new unit reflects the apex bank’s commitment to strengthening regulatory frameworks in response to evolving threats and compliance challenges.

In a circular issued to regulated financial institutions on Thursday, the CBN stated that the department was established in the first quarter of 2025 and became fully operational in the second quarter.

The move is part of broader structural reforms designed to improve regulatory efficiency, define institutional roles more clearly, and ensure focused supervision of emerging and non-traditional risks.

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In recent years, the Nigerian financial sector has faced increasing pressure from global regulatory standards, technological threats, and evolving financial crimes.

Non-prudential risks—such as money laundering, cyberattacks, poor market conduct, and weak corporate governance—pose significant threats to financial stability and investor confidence.

“This structural reform forms part of the Bank’s broader efforts to consolidate and embed regulatory effectiveness within existing supervisory frameworks, clarify institutional responsibilities, and maintain focused oversight of non-prudential and emerging risks,” CBN said.

With its creation, the apex bank said the compliance department has taken over responsibilities in four key areas.

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“Financial crime supervision, covering anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, and sanctions compliance,” CBN said.

“Market conduct supervision, including disclosure practices, complaints management, and advertising standards;

“Enterprise security supervision covering cybersecurity, data protection, and third-party risk management; and corporate governance and ESG supervision focusing on board effectiveness and oversight of environmental, social, and governance oversight,” it added.

The financial regulator further said all regulatory reports, correspondence, and related inquiries concerning the matters should be directed to the director of, compliance department, through the established communication channels.

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The apex bank added that institutions will receive direct guidance on specific points of contact and submission procedures.

CBN said it looks forward to continued cooperation from all institutions to ensure a smooth transition and to uphold the highest standards of compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

The PUNCH reports that the apex bank is clamping down on PoS fraud with geo-tagging and global payment standards, aiming to make every digital transaction traceable and trustworthy.

A Nigerian scholar, Raphael Ebiefung, has been awarded the prestigious Grace Jordan McFadden Professor Programme Fellowship at the University of South Carolina.

A statement issued by the Institution noted that the “highly competitive fellowship” recognises academic leaders who advance knowledge and address pressing social challenges.

Ebiefung, a doctoral researcher and a one-time assistant lecturer and librarian at Top-Faith University, Nigeria, who specialises in human-AI interaction and information behaviour, is expected to join “an elite group of scholars shaping the future of higher education and interdisciplinary inquiry,” the University said.

Ebiefung, in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Friday, described the award as a “milestone that underscores Nigeria’s capacity to produce world-class scholars.”

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He said, “I am deeply honoured to receive the Grace Jordan McFadden Fellowship. It is a testament to the resilience and potential of young Nigerian academics striving to make a global impact.

“My research seeks to understand the dynamics of human behaviour in relation to AI systems. This area is critical as we move deeper into the digital age,” he explained.

Nigerian scholars have continued to leave an impressive intellectual footprint across the world.

The PUNCH reported how, in August, a Nigerian scientist, Deborah Agbakwuru, was awarded the prestigious Besancon scholarship at the University of Montana.

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The scholarship is one of the most distinguished graduate recognitions at the university and is awarded annually to an outstanding researcher in the biological, physical, and mathematical sciences.

Similarly, Nigerian-born researcher, Peter Ngene, won a €2m grant from the European Research Council for his project in 2024.

Ngene, an associate professor at the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, was among seven researchers from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, who won the grant. According to a statement by his university, Ngene’s work focused on the “interface-mediated fast ionic conductivity in nanocomposite solid-state electrolytes.”

He said the goal was to unravel the reason why the ionic conductivity of certain solids can increase or decrease by thousands of fold at their interface with other solids.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has filed a lawsuit against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, challenging the legality of the Nigeria Police Force’s tinted glass permit policy.

The lawsuit, instituted on Wednesday, September 2, 2025, before the Federal High Court in Abuja, comes months after the IGP introduced a directive requiring motorists to apply for and renew tinted glass permits annually through a digital platform, for a fee.

In a statement released Friday, the NBA described the policy as unlawful, unconstitutional, and lacking transparency. It also raised concerns that proceeds from the exercise were being paid into a private account rather than the Federation Account.

“Despite the extension of enforcement to October 2, 2025, several motorists have reported harassment and extortion by policemen at checkpoints on the basis of this policy,” the association said, warning that it infringes on citizens’ rights to privacy, freedom of movement, and dignity.

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The NBA also questioned the validity of the Motor Tinted Glass (Prohibition) Act of 1991, a military-era law under which the police has anchored the policy, stressing that it may not meet constitutional tests required in a democratic society.

The action was filed by the NBA’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), led by Prof. Paul Ananaba (SAN) and Olukunle Ogheneovo Edun (SAN). The association vowed to pursue the case “to a logical conclusion.”

READ THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION CHALLENGES THE LEGALITY OF THE POLICE TINTED GLASS PERMIT POLICY OF THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE

One of the key resolutions of the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association at its pre-conference NEC meeting held on the 23rd day of August 2025 in Enugu is that the NBA should challenge the legality of the Nigeria Police Force tinted permit policy in court.

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In April 2025, the Inspector General of Police purportedly introduced a policy which mandated members of the Nigerian motoring public to apply for and obtain annual motor tinted glass permits from the Nigeria Police Force for a fee. The Inspector General of Police in the same month purportedly launched a digital portal (http://possap.gov.ng) through which the application for tinted glass permits were to be processed. We are being informed that the portal and the policy are to be managed by a private vendor, and there is no indication that the funds generated from the enforcement of the purported policy will go into the Federation Account.

The Inspector General of Police initially pegged the date of commencement of the enforcement of the Policy to the 1st day of June 2025, but subsequently extended the date to the 2nd day of October 2025.

Despite the fact that the date of commencement of the enforcement of the purported policy has been extended to the 2nd day of October 2025, there have been several reported cases of harassment and extortion of citizens by the Policemen in checkpoint duty on the basis of this same Policy, thus raising serious concerns of threats to and violation of citizens’ fundamental rights to dignity of human person, right to privacy, right to freedom of movement and the right to own movable property guaranteed as by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.

Furthermore, the introduction and proposed enforcement of the tinted glass permit Policy has raised several other genuine concerns, including the validity of the Motor Tinted Glass (Prohibition) Act (Decree 1991), a military-era law under which the Police has sought refuge. A critical scrutiny of the Act would confirm concerns that the legislation may be unable to satisfy the test of a law reasonably justifiable in a democratic society under Section 45 of the 1999 Constitution as to justify reliance on it to deprive citizens of their rights to privacy and free movement.

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Moreover, the fact that the legislation does not make provision for renewal of tinted glass permits or payment of fees for renewal are serious issues which clearly reveal that the Policy lacks statutory foundation.

Furthermore, that payment for the permit is being made into a private account: PARKWAY PROJECTS Account No: 4001017918 raises serious concerns of transparency surrounding the utilisation of funds realised from the exercise, given that the account is neither domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria nor associated with the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Against the above backdrop, the Nigerian Bar Association, through its Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) has on Wednesday the 2nd September 2025 instituted a public interest action before the Federal High Court, Abuja in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/182/2025 between: The Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. The Inspector General of Police & Anor essentially challenging the legality of the tinted glass permit policy.

The NBA-SPIDEL, under the leadership of its Transition Committee Chairman, Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN and the Section’s Public Interest Litigation Committee, chaired by Mr. Olukunle Ogheneovo Edun, SAN, whose proactive efforts were responsible for the accomplishment of this task, have been directed to pursue this litigation to a logical conclusion.