The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed financial institutions to ensure that critical payment transaction data is stored and managed within the country from January 1, 2027, as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and financial system stability.
The apex bank said the requirement would not remove the responsibility of banks and other regulated institutions to manage cybersecurity threats, operational disruptions and risks associated with third-party technology providers.
The Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Lamido Yuguda, stated this on Wednesday in Lagos at the CBN-National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Executive Regulatory Dialogue on implementing the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI) and data localisation.
Yuguda said the growing adoption of cloud computing had created opportunities for efficiency, flexibility and innovation in the financial sector, but also introduced risks that required effective management.
He identified cybersecurity, data protection, operational resilience, concentration risks and dependence on external technology providers as key concerns that financial institutions must address.
According to him, keeping payment data within Nigeria is an important step towards strengthening control over the country’s financial infrastructure, but data localisation alone cannot guarantee security.
“Localisation alone does not guarantee security. Financial institutions and their critical technology providers must maintain robust cybersecurity, business continuity, disaster recovery, and risk-management arrangements to ensure that critical financial services remain secure and available,” he said.
The deputy governor also stressed the need for adequate infrastructure and effective regulatory oversight to ensure that the sovereign cloud initiative achieves its objectives without undermining innovation.
He said the CBN would continue to collaborate with NITDA and other stakeholders to align financial-sector requirements with national digital infrastructure standards.
Yuguda added that the initiative should strengthen Nigeria’s digital resilience and domestic technological capacity without isolating the country from global technological developments.
“The objective of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative should not be to constrain innovation or isolate Nigeria from global technological developments. Rather, it should provide the security, resilience, and regulatory certainty necessary to support investment, innovation, and sustainable growth,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director of the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department, Dr. Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, said the regulatory dialogue was organised to clarify the objectives of the initiative and secure stakeholders’ commitment to meeting the January 1, 2027 deadline.
She said the policy was designed to strengthen Nigeria’s control over payment transaction data and support the apex bank’s financial system stability mandate.
“We’re looking forward that by 1st of January 2027 that everyone will be on board to have payments data localized. Because it’s about our sovereignty, it’s about clarity, it’s about visibility over our transaction data. And it’s about ensuring financial system stability, which is the mandate of the CBN,” she said.
Earlier, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi, said Nigeria needed greater control over the digital infrastructure underpinning its economy and financial system to protect essential services against external disruptions.
Abdullahi explained that digital sovereignty did not mean isolating Nigeria from the global technology ecosystem or requiring the country to develop every technology domestically.
He said NITDA and the CBN were working to make the financial sector the first to comply with the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, while promoting collaboration among financial institutions, telecommunications operators, technology providers and other players in the innovation ecosystem.
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