Nigeria has taken a major step toward reshaping how its fast-growing fintech sector is regulated, after the House of Representatives advanced the Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission Bill to second reading on October 28, 2025. The bill, listed as HB.2389 and sponsored by Hon. Fuad Kayode Laguda of Lagos, would create a Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission as a single authority to license, supervise, and enforce rules across payments, lending, digital assets, crowdfunding, and other fintech activities. Lawmakers said the goal is to replace confusion with clarity in a market that now supports everyday transactions for millions of citizens.
Why the Bill Matters
Today, fintech companies in Nigeria answer to multiple agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria for banking and payments, the Securities and Exchange Commission for capital markets and virtual assets, and the National Information Technology Development Agency for digital infrastructure and data. Other bodies such as competition and data protection authorities also assert jurisdiction, especially around lending conduct and privacy. Lawmakers and founders argue that this overlapping mandate produces conflicting directives and regulatory gaps, and say a unified commission would deliver one rule book and predictable supervision for a sector that has outpaced legacy finance law.
What the Commission Would Do
According to the draft proposal, the new commission would issue individual or class licenses tied to each firm's core activity, whether that is payments, lending, crypto, crowdfunding, or regulatory technology, and it could suspend or revoke those licenses and impose fines for non compliance. It would also set binding standards on consumer protection, service quality, dispute resolution, data usage, and technology performance, rather than leaving operators to interpret circulars from several different regulators. Supporters say this structure will make it harder for bad actors to hide behind jurisdictional gray areas, while giving compliant operators a clearer path to scale.
Impact on Startups and Investors
The bill also expands enforcement expectations inside the companies themselves. Startups would be required to budget for dedicated compliance teams, in house legal counsel, recurring technology audits, and governance that shows Nigerian participation in ownership and management from the start, instead of waiting until late stage fundraising. For foreign backed ventures, that could mean reworking board seats, senior leadership, and reporting lines to satisfy local participation thresholds and audit readiness before entering the market.
Enforcement and Market Stability
Beyond licensing and audits, the commission would serve as an industry referee, with powers to compel information, conduct investigations, and mediate disputes between fintechs, banks, and telecom operators. Lawmakers say the body would also be able to intervene on interoperability and access to core infrastructure, a move that could strengthen open banking, curb predatory pricing in digital lending, and improve customer redress for abusive collection tactics. They argue that this is necessary because Nigeria's shift to mobile payments and online credit has accelerated faster than existing watchdogs can monitor, raising concerns about fraud, financial stability, and consumer abuse.
After clearing second reading, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen sent the bill to House committees on Banking Regulations and Communication for further work before it can proceed to a third reading and any reconciliation with the Senate. Lawmakers backing the measure say it will safeguard consumers, support innovation, and lower systemic risk by replacing the current patchwork of circulars and ad hoc directives with a formal legal framework for digital finance. If it becomes law, Nigeria would gain a single point of regulatory authority over fintech, a change that could shape investment, competition, and consumer trust across the entire payments and lending ecosystem.