Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has admitted that his decision to delay the entry of telecommunications companies into Nigeria’s financial services sector while he was at the apex bank was a mistake that slowed the country’s financial inclusion efforts.

Sanusi made the admission on Wednesday during a fireside chat at the official launch of the Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2026 Survey Report in Abuja.

The discussion was moderated by the Dean of Lagos Business School, Prof. Olayinka David-West.

Reflecting on some of the policy decisions taken during his tenure as CBN governor between 2009 and 2014, Sanusi said he was responsible for delaying the participation of telecommunications companies in financial services.

“I’m responsible for delaying the entry of telcos into this space,” he said.

The former CBN governor explained that his decision was influenced by concerns over the safety of depositors’ funds, particularly because Nigeria had just emerged from a banking crisis.

He said he was uncomfortable with allowing companies that were not primarily regulated by the CBN to gain access to large pools of customers’ funds.

“Part of the challenge, of course, was that we had just come out of a banking crisis where we were worried about depositors’ funds.

And I wasn’t comfortable allowing companies that I was not a primary regulator of to have access to a huge pool of funds,” Sanusi said.

However, he acknowledged that the decision, despite being motivated by concerns about financial stability, ultimately slowed the expansion of financial services to underserved Nigerians.

“So again, this is one case where you have a good intention, but you take a wrong decision,” he said.

Sanusi recalled that he resisted pressure from various institutions and stakeholders, including the World Bank, to open up the financial services space to telecommunications companies more quickly.

“I fought the World Bank. I fought everybody,” he said.

According to him, allowing telecommunications companies and technology firms to participate earlier could have accelerated Nigeria’s efforts to bring millions of financially excluded citizens into the formal financial system.

“I do think if I had allowed that to happen, it would have been much more progress,” he added.

Banks lack sufficient reach
Sanusi said developments in digital finance in recent years had demonstrated the limitations of relying mainly on traditional banks to achieve widespread financial inclusion.

He noted that banks lacked the physical reach required to serve large sections of the Nigerian population, particularly people operating outside the formal economy.

“I think we made more progress in the last few years than we did in the first one, because the banks simply don’t have the boots on the ground. They don’t have the footprint,” he said.

His comments came as the 2026 Access to Financial Services survey recorded further improvement in Nigeria’s financial inclusion indicators.

According to the survey, overall financial inclusion increased to 79 per cent in 2026, while the proportion of financially excluded Nigerians declined to 21 per cent.

Formal financial inclusion also increased to 73 per cent, compared with 64 per cent recorded in 2023.

While acknowledging the progress, Sanusi stressed that access to financial services should not automatically be interpreted as an improvement in people’s incomes or living standards.

He said opening bank accounts and facilitating digital transactions were important, but did not necessarily mean that Nigerians were earning more or becoming less poor.

“Opening an account, moving money, is not the same as earning money. It’s not the same as talking about poverty,” he said.

Sanusi seeks stronger link between finance and real economy
The former CBN governor argued that financial services should be more closely connected to productive economic activities such as agriculture, manufacturing and trade.

He said the growth of fintech companies and other digital financial service providers could provide an opportunity to connect financial transactions with the movement of goods and services, from farmers and producers to markets and manufacturers.

Sanusi also called for Nigeria’s digital payment infrastructure to be used to expand access to savings, pensions and insurance.

He suggested that digital financial service providers could develop products that enable Nigerians, particularly informal-sector workers, to accumulate small amounts of money from their regular transactions.

According to him, such systems could help people build savings, pension contributions and insurance protection without requiring them to make large periodic payments.

Sanusi said that if he were leading the CBN today, he would bring major digital financial service providers together and challenge them to develop savings and pension products using the transaction data and networks already available to them.

Inflation remains threat to savings
The former CBN governor also urged the apex bank to maintain its focus on price stability, describing inflation as a major threat to household savings and wealth.

“There is no enemy to savings, no enemy to wealth that is bigger than inflation,” he said.

Sanusi warned against abandoning tight monetary policy prematurely, arguing that sustainable savings and stronger household financial resilience would depend partly on bringing inflation under control.

He said maintaining price stability should remain an important priority for monetary authorities as Nigeria seeks to deepen financial inclusion.

Unified identity system
Sanusi also reflected on the development of a unified identification framework for bank customers, describing it as part of the infrastructure needed to expand financial services.

He recalled the resistance that greeted efforts to establish a single identification system across the banking industry instead of allowing individual banks to operate separate identification systems.

According to him, Nigeria now has financial infrastructure that can support the expansion of credit, insurance, pensions and other financial products.

However, he stressed that the focus should shift towards ensuring that financial access translates into meaningful economic opportunities for Nigerians.

Sanusi warns against fragmented consumer protection
The former CBN governor further warned that fragmented consumer protection regulation could undermine confidence in the financial system.

He argued that overlapping responsibilities among the CBN, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and other regulators could create confusion for consumers seeking to resolve complaints.

Sanusi said clearly defined responsibilities were necessary to ensure that consumers know where to turn when they experience problems with financial institutions.

“Consumer protection is so critical to financial inclusion that once you begin to fragment and there isn’t one point of call, there is an issue,” he said.

Sanusi’s remarks underline the changing nature of Nigeria’s financial inclusion landscape, with telecommunications companies, fintech firms and digital payment platforms increasingly playing a role alongside traditional banks.

The 2026 survey figures indicate continued expansion in access to formal financial services, while the former CBN governor’s reflections highlight the need to ensure that greater financial access is accompanied by improved savings, investment opportunities and participation in productive economic activities.

Lagos State’s public hospitals are witnessing a sharp rise in patient attendance, with outpatient patronage doubling over the past six months amid growing pressure on healthcare workers and an ongoing shortage of medical professionals.

The state Commissioner for Health, Prof.

Akin Abayomi, disclosed this during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, September 11, 2026, attributing the surge partly to the rising cost of healthcare and the migration of medical professionals from the country.

Abayomi said major public health facilities, including the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, and hospitals in Ikorodu and Lagos Island, were recording significantly higher patient numbers.

“In the last six months, our outpatient patronage has doubled in our public health facilities, LASUTH, Ikorodu, Lagos Island.

“I’ve seen thousands of patients a day. Now, you can’t imagine that kind of patronage in a private hospital.”

According to the commissioner, the increasing cost of medical treatment is making it increasingly difficult for many residents to afford services at private hospitals.

He said while healthcare costs continued to rise, residents’ purchasing power had not increased at the same pace, forcing many to seek cheaper alternatives.

“While the cost of care is going up, the ability to buy that care is relatively stagnant,” he said.

Abayomi explained that the development was creating a shift in healthcare patronage, with some residents moving from private hospitals to government-owned facilities because of their relatively lower costs.

He, however, warned that some people were moving further from formal healthcare facilities to informal providers, including pharmacies and drug hawkers.

“So the public are shifting from the private sector to the public sector and from the public sector to the informal sector, where they can walk into a pharmacist or stop the hawker on the road and tell them, ‘I have a headache or I have a fever,’ and they get access to medication without going through the orthodox system,” he said.

Brain Drain Puts Workers Under Pressure
The commissioner said the increase in patient numbers was compounding the pressure on doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals already affected by brain drain.

He said the migration of medical personnel had reduced the workforce available to attend to the growing number of patients in public hospitals.

“Our doctors and our healthcare professionals are under a lot of stress. You can imagine with the brain drain, with this influx of patients,” Abayomi said.

He compared the workload in medical facilities to working extremely long shifts, stressing that sustained pressure could be damaging to healthcare workers.

Against the backdrop of increasing demand, the Lagos Government is preparing to intensify enforcement of compulsory health insurance in the state.

Abayomi said the government was restructuring the state’s health insurance system and would soon move from awareness and advocacy to stronger enforcement.

“Now we’re moving into enforcement. So very soon, it’s just like if you have a car.

You need three things. You need a licence, you need an MOT, and you need insurance. If you don’t have it, somewhere along the line, someone will enforce it,” he said.

The commissioner said Lagos had domesticated the National Health Insurance Authority Act through an executive order issued in July 2024, making health insurance compulsory for people living and working in the state.

He said the state was now restructuring the scheme, increasing public awareness and educating residents on the importance of health insurance.

“We’re restructuring. We’re doing a lot of enforcement. We’re doing a lot of public health awareness. We’re doing a lot of educating the public around the need for insurance,” he added.

According to Abayomi, the government wants every resident to have access to a basic social health insurance package, while people with private insurance would also be integrated into the broader system.

“So everybody should have at least a social health insurance basic minimum service package cover. And then in the private sector, we’re incorporating them into that narrative so that if you have private insurance, you at least have the basic minimum package,” he said.

He added that the state had restructured the various tiers of the insurance system to ensure cleaner and more effective operations.

Abayomi said the challenges facing the healthcare sector could not be separated from healthcare financing.

He argued that stronger demand-side financing would increase the funds available for healthcare providers, improve service delivery and create better conditions for retaining medical professionals.

“It all boils down to healthcare financing. It boils down to demand financing, the ability to finance the purchase of your care,” he said.

He explained that insurance could distribute the cost of healthcare across a larger population through risk-sharing and social solidarity, thereby reducing the financial burden on government.

“Health insurance does many things. It reduces the risk. It causes a cross-subsidy and social solidarity. It takes a lot of the burden away from government so that the private sector can flourish in a health system,” Abayomi said.

He also linked improved healthcare purchasing power to efforts to tackle the migration of health professionals.

“Now when that happens, it will start to slow down brain drain because brain drain is an economic narrative,” he said.

“If we fix the demand-side financing, then funds will flow. If the public, if the business people in Lagos suddenly see that Lagosians have purchasing power for healthcare, they will fix the supply-side.”

The commissioner also defended government investment in public healthcare, saying residents benefit from substantial subsidies in state-owned hospitals.

“The public health service is extremely subsidised. We build the hospitals.

We pay 20,000 staff. We’re the biggest ministry in Lagos State Government. We repair facilities.

We buy equipment. We’re constantly paying for training. We’re paying for administration, overheads, power,” he said.

He said the subsidy enables public hospitals to charge substantially less than private facilities.

According to him, charges in government hospitals are generally less than half of what patients would pay for comparable services in private hospitals.

“So they generally charge a range of something less than 50 per cent of what the private sector charges. Health is doing actually quite well,” he said.

Abayomi also disclosed that the health sector had achieved more than 90 per cent budget implementation.

“On budget implementation, we’re above 90 percent,” he said.

The commissioner further addressed complaints concerning payment procedures at public hospitals, including allegations that some patients were required to provide cash before receiving treatment.

He said the government had outsourced payment gateways to private companies in an effort to separate financial transactions from clinical activities.

“We’ve now outsourced the payment gateways to the private sector so that it doesn’t mess up with clinical activities,” he said.

According to him, payment collectors now operate across the state’s health facilities and are responsible for collecting approved charges from patients.

“We engage payment collectors, and they are in all our facilities, and they collect the due charges that the patients have experienced within the facilities,” he added.

He said multiple companies were currently operating the payment gateways across the state.

The commissioner’s comments come as Lagos continues to face the dual challenge of rising demand for affordable healthcare and shortages of skilled medical personnel, with the state government betting on expanded health insurance coverage and improved healthcare financing to ease pressure on its public hospitals.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has assured Nigerians that the benefits of the country’s improving economic stability will soon begin to reflect in household incomes and business activities as ongoing fiscal and monetary reforms gain momentum.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, gave the assurance on Tuesday at the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Abuja.

Cardoso, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Philip Ikeazor, acknowledged growing concerns that improvements in key macroeconomic indicators had yet to significantly improve the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.

Ikeazor said the apex bank was working with fiscal authorities to ensure that the gains recorded from recent economic stabilisation measures were eventually transmitted to households and businesses.

He said, “all watchers of the economy have acknowledged the macroeconomic stability we have today,” but noted that the major question remained when Nigerians would begin to feel the full impact of the improvements.

According to him, the benefits are expected to emerge as fiscal reforms complement the monetary measures already implemented by the CBN.

He specifically mentioned the National Single Window and other initiatives being pursued by the fiscal authorities, saying their effects would begin to become more visible soon.

Ikeazor attributed part of the recent improvement in economic conditions to stronger coordination between the monetary and fiscal authorities, describing the current level of collaboration as unprecedented.

He also credited President Bola Tinubu with allowing the CBN to concentrate on its statutory responsibilities, noting that the reforms implemented by the apex bank involved collaboration with other stakeholders.

The assurance comes against the backdrop of continued economic pressure on Nigerian households and businesses, including high living costs, expensive financing and the broader effects of reforms introduced since 2023.

Speaking on behalf of President Tinubu, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the country had achieved greater stability but warned that stability should not be mistaken for prosperity.

“Stability has returned. Credibility is rising. Prosperity is coming,” Tinubu said.

The President said macroeconomic stability should serve as the foundation for achieving broader prosperity, adding that the next phase of the reform programme would focus on converting stability into investment, production, employment and improved living standards.

He also identified the banking and financial services sector as critical to providing the financing required to grow the real economy.

The President and Chairman of Council of the CIBN, Dr Dele Alabi, similarly acknowledged the progress recorded at the macroeconomic level but stressed the need to ensure that the benefits reach ordinary Nigerians.

Alabi said the country had not reached its final destination, noting that improvements in macroeconomic fundamentals must be translated into tangible benefits for households, individuals and businesses.

He called for the next stage of reforms to move economic stability from national balance sheets to business balance sheets and household budgets.

According to him, millions of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises continue to face challenges, including high operating costs, infrastructure deficiencies and inadequate access to finance.

The Chairman of the Body of Bank CEOs and Group Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa Plc, Oliver Alawuba, also said recent economic indicators suggested that Nigeria was moving in the right direction.

Alawuba cited the reported 4.43 per cent year-on-year GDP growth recorded in the second quarter of 2026, easing inflation and stronger external reserves as signs of improving economic conditions.

However, he stressed that sustained fiscal and monetary coordination would remain necessary to protect the gains and increase lending to productive sectors.

He urged recapitalised banks to use their stronger balance sheets to provide more affordable credit to MSMEs, agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure and export-oriented businesses.

Meanwhile, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, represented by Senior Private Sector Specialist Bertine Kamphuis, said Nigeria’s recent reform gains were real but argued that job creation should become the next major measure of economic success.

The World Bank noted that domestic credit to the private sector remained around 13 per cent of GDP, while MSMEs accounted for only about one per cent of credit despite their importance to employment.

It therefore stressed the need to channel more capital towards productive businesses capable of expanding operations, creating jobs and supporting sustainable economic growth.