The Senate’s debate on sweeping reforms to Nigeria’s financial laws took an unexpected turn on Thursday after Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) spotlighted what she called a “quiet exploitation” of Nigerian youth earning income on social media platforms.
Speaking during the second reading of the BOFIA Amendment Bill, 2025 (SB 959), Natasha warned that Nigeria’s booming digital workforce is being short-changed by global tech giants, despite driving massive traffic and engagement on their platforms.
“Our youths are earning 50 cents for content that fetches $10 to $30 per 1,000 views in the U.S.,” she said. “This inequality must not be ignored as we reform our financial system.”
“I’m speaking for the content creators because, trust me, social media has become a very critical source of income for our youths,” she added.
She argued that such disparities distort Nigeria’s digital economy and have implications for financial inclusion, urging policymakers to factor the realities of the country’s booming online workforce into ongoing reforms.
Senator Natasha also called for stronger regulatory engagement with global tech companies, stressing the need for transparency, fairness, and equitable earning structures for Nigerians participating in the global content economy.
Her intervention expanded the conversation beyond banking risks to the economic future of millions of digital creators, insisting that any overhaul of financial laws must include fairer revenue practices, transparency, and stronger engagement with global tech companies.
The main bill, sponsored by Senator Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos East), seeks to modernise the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act by giving the Central Bank sweeping powers to classify large fintechs as Systemically Important Institutions (SIIs)—putting them under tighter scrutiny.
Abiru argued that fintechs and mobile-money operators have grown into critical national infrastructure, processing transaction volumes that rival traditional banks while holding enormous amounts of consumer data—often stored offshore.
“The law has not kept pace,” he said. “A dominant fintech can now pose as much risk as a bank.”
The bill aims to empower the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to designate and supervise high-risk fintechs, establish a national registry to ensure transparency and expose beneficial ownership, strengthen consumer protection and safeguard data sovereignty, and close the regulatory gaps highlighted by the CBN’s 2024 crackdown on certain fintechs.
Abiru dismissed calls for a new fintech regulator, warning it would create duplication and confusion. Global best practice, he said, is to reinforce existing institutions—not build new ones.
The bill has been referred to the relevant Senate committee, but Natasha’s forceful intervention ensured that the debate now includes one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing sectors: the digital economy and the millions who depend on it for income.
Contributing to the debate, former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Senator Adams Oshiomhole, shared the experience of how his accounts were once hacked, disclosing that the hackers accessed him through one of the fintech banks.
Oshiomhole also said the identities of most of the key owners of online operators were not known and might not be held accountable for infractions since there was no law binding them to any commitments.
“I know the directors of our regular banks, but I can’t say the same of these fintech banks.
“I don’t know the directors of MoniePoint, Opay and all others,” he added.
Oshiomhole further argued that when properly regulated through an enabling law, the operations of online financial institutions would better serve the interest of Nigerians.
