At least 14 Nigerian commercial banks are still short of meeting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalisation benchmark as the March 31, 2026 deadline approaches.
This follows CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso’s announcement on Tuesday that sixteen Nigerian banks have met their recapitalisation requirement ahead of the apex bank’s March 2026 deadline.
Veritas Nexus reports that Cardoso revealed this in a statement issued after the bank’s 303rd Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja.
According to Cardoso, the development indicates that there is financial soundness in the country’s financial banking system.
MPC had been urged by banks to ensure a successful implementation of the recapitalisation process.
“The committee noted with satisfaction the sustained resilience of the banking system, with most financial soundness indicators remaining within regulatory thresholds,” Cardoso said.
“Acknowledged the substantial progress in the ongoing recapitalisation programme, with 16 banks achieving full compliance with the revised capital requirements.
“The committee thus urged the Bank to ensure a successful implementation and conclusion of the programme, among other domestic developments,” Cardoso said
This means that two additional Nigerian banks have been added to the list of banks which have complied with the apex bank recapitalisation requirement in the last two months
Recall that during the 302nd MPC meeting, Cardoso disclosed that only fourteen banks had met the recapitalisation requirement.
CBN records as of 2024 showed that the country has thirteen commercial banks, five merchant banks and seven financial holdings companies.
Earlier, a report emerged that Access Bank, Zenith Bank, GTBank, Wema Bank, Jaiz Bank, Stanbic IBTC, and others have already met CBN’s recapitalisation requirement.
In March, the CBN directed commercial banks with international authorisation to boost their capital base to N500 billion, while banks holding national licences were required to increase theirs to N200 billion.
