Corporate Governance: A Reflection on 2023 Nigeria Financial Services Sector Governance Reform

Certain regulatory developments redefined the Nigerian financial services industry’s landscape recently. Chief among them are the two governance guidelines simultaneously released by the Central Bank of Nigeria: (1) the “Corporate Governance Guidelines for Commercial, Merchants, Non-interest, and Payment Services Banks 2023” and (2) the “Corporate Governance Guidelines for Financial Holding Companies in Nigeria, 2023”. The pivotal potentials of these guidelines are projected to reinvent corporate governance in the sector. Extrapolating from the perspective of stakeholders’ theory, this paper highlights some of the salutary provisions designed to bolster transparency, accountability, and best ethical practices. In providing a deeper insight into some of the innovations, the paper employs a descriptive-analytical approach. The paper concludes that in the quest to maintain stability and enhance public confidence in the financial services industry, subject to the proclivities of the financial services industry, corporate governance regulation must proceed beyond the present reactionary regime.