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CBN orders banks to conduct stress test from April
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to conduct a comprehensive stress test on their credit portfolios beginning from April 1, 2026, as part of measures to ensure the continued stability of the nation’s banking system.
A source at the apex bank confirmed to Vanguard that the directive was conveyed through a letter to the Chief Executive Officers of banks, noting that the communication was not meant for public circulation.
According to the source, the instruction forms part of routine regulatory oversight aimed at strengthening the resilience of the financial system.
The apex bank stated that the directive aligns with the provisions of Sections 13 and 63 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020, which empowers the CBN to require banks to maintain capital considered adequate to cover risks arising from their operations.
The CBN stated in the letter: “This is without prejudice to the contents of the CBN ‘Guideline on Stress Testing for Nigerian Banks’ issued in March 2019.”
It explained that banks are required to assess the resilience of their loan portfolios over a 12-month period under simulated adverse conditions.
According to the apex bank: “Banks are expected to stress the resilience of their credit portfolio over a 12-month period by simulating deterioration in asset quality, governance risk and significant change in industry dynamics such as fall in commodity prices, foreign exchange rate movement, structural shift in obligor operating market dynamics (supply chain disruption, contracting demand, etc.), portfolio variables, among others.”
The CBN added that the exercise is aimed at determining the potential impact of adverse conditions on banks’ Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), loan loss provisions and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR).
In terms of methodology, the apex bank directed banks to apply the stress test to all credit exposures, both on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet, including director and insider-related exposures, while assuming a staged migration of exposures to the next risk classification in line with prudential guidelines issued in July 2020.
The CBN further explained that banks must establish a baseline for the exercise.
The regulator also stated: “In addition to classification of credit portfolio across performing, watchlist (specialized loans), substandard, doubtful and lost, baseline position shall include exposure at default, current provisioning level, collateral value and risk weighted position.”
According to the apex bank, the primary stress scenario should assume progressive deterioration of the credit portfolio within a 12-month period.
It added that exposures in sectors showing signs of weakening should attract additional provisioning.
The CBN stated: “Where there are signs of potential deterioration in industry dynamics, exposures shall be further stressed and deteriorated with at least an additional 10 percent provisioning applied.”
On insider-related facilities, the regulator said: “Director/Insider-Related Credits: To appropriately address governance and insider-related risks, all insider-related exposures shall be treated under a severe stress assumption and assumed to be in default. These shall be fully provided for in the banks’ stress scenarios.”
Following the exercise, banks are expected to disclose the impact of the stress test on their capital positions.
According to the CBN: “Following the conclusion of stress testing, banks are expected to report: pre-stress CAR, post-stress CAR, and capital shortfall (if any).”
The apex bank added: “It is pertinent to note that banks shall be required to raise 100% of their reported stressed capital shortfall or 50% of the shortfall computed from CBN stress analysis of the banks (whichever is higher), within an 18-month period.”
The regulator further stated: “Once communicated, this level of capital shall become the risk-based capital requirement of the bank until the next cycle of stress testing, which would take place six months after the end of the capital raise to close the shortfall in stressed CAR.”
For banks that record no capital shortfall, the CBN said: “For all banks without a shortfall in CAR from the stress-testing exercise, a cycle of 12-month stress testing will apply.”
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A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways
The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and members of his church were in a programme.
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?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet to be recovered
as search party are still ongoing.
Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report, our Correspondent gathered that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.
The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit
The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s on the sad accident
By: CHINEDU WOSU
The Rivers State Council of Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.
Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.
Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.
He noted that the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.
According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.
He also informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.
“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.
Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.
The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.
He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.
Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.
The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.
He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.
Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.
By: King Onunwor
The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.
Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.
“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.
The minister noted the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.
According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.
Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.
He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.
“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.
He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.
“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.
Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.
“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.
“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.
She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.
Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).
“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.
“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.
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