The Central Bank of Nigeria has cautioned that a cybersecurity incident at one bank, fintech, payment service provider or technology vendor could rapidly spread and disrupt the entire financial system.
Dr Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, Director of the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department and Chairperson of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, delivered the warning on Tuesday during a panel session at the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme “Navigating Cyber and Systemic Risks in the AI-Driven Future of Banking: Implications for Financial Stability and Business Resilience,” Yusuf said growing reliance on fintechs, payment firms, cloud operators and other technology vendors has created new pathways for cyber incidents to move across the interconnected ecosystem.
She described the risk as a “one-fire” effect, in which a weakness or failure in one part of the system could quickly affect others. Financial institutions must therefore map and assess their third-party dependencies regularly rather than focusing solely on their own internal defences.
“It is no longer enough for an institution to say, ‘My organisation is protected.’ We have to look at the ecosystem,” she said.
Yusuf stressed that resilience goes beyond preventing attacks. Institutions must be able to keep critical services running during a disruption and recover quickly even when preventive controls fail.
The CBN, she added, is tightening its policies, regulations and supervisory frameworks to identify vulnerabilities that could threaten systemic stability before they materialise. The bank is also examining such risks more closely at the product-approval stage as new services become more dependent on digital infrastructure and external technology providers.
She urged banks and other financial institutions to hold their technology partners to the same cybersecurity and resilience standards they apply to themselves, including the ability to withstand attacks, maintain essential services and recover from major operational failures.
Prompt reporting of cyber incidents and vulnerabilities is essential, Yusuf said, because delays can allow isolated breaches to escalate into broader threats. She called for greater intelligence sharing among institutions and for stronger Security Operations Centres capable of monitoring threats across the financial ecosystem in real time.
On artificial intelligence, Yusuf said rapid adoption of AI and automation must not eliminate human accountability. While machines can perform increasingly sophisticated functions, humans remain responsible for the decisions and outcomes of financial services.
She also emphasised the need for stronger data governance and attention to digital sovereignty. Institutions should know where critical data is stored, who has access to it, what insights are drawn from it and how those insights influence decisions. Dependence on data or technology outside an institution’s effective control can create additional operational, regulatory and systemic risks.
Yusuf called for a collective approach involving regulators, banks, fintechs, payment service providers and technology companies. The goal, she said, is a financial ecosystem that can absorb shocks, contain cyber incidents and recover rapidly without allowing the failure of any single institution or provider to destabilise the wider system.
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