The House of Representatives on Thursday took initial legislative steps to strengthen transparency and accountability in the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria, following the second reading of a bill seeking comprehensive amendments to the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 1991.

The proposed legislation, co-sponsored by the House Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, and Lagos lawmaker, Jesse Onakalausi, received unanimous support during plenary.

Titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 1991, to allow for proper day-to-day operations, professional oversight and enhance checks and balances, and for other matters connected thereto, 2025,” the bill responds to mounting concerns about gaps in governance and oversight at the apex bank—issues that gained national prominence following recent controversies surrounding monetary policy decisions, foreign exchange management, and the 2022 currency redesign.

Nigeria’s central banking framework has long been criticised for its weak corporate governance structure, particularly the concentration of operational and oversight powers in the office of the CBN Governor.

This fusion, analysts argue, contributed to years of opacity in policy formulation, excessive discretion in foreign exchange administration, and insufficient checks on fiscal financing through Ways and Means advances. These concerns set the backdrop for the latest legislative push.

Explaining the rationale behind the bill, Onakalausi said it arose from an urgent need to reinforce governance, autonomy, transparency, and accountability within the apex bank, “In light of recent national and global economic realities.”

Addressing lawmakers on the general principles of the proposed amendments, he emphasised the overarching responsibility of the central bank, noting that, “The CBN plays a central role in stabilising the financial system, ensuring monetary credibility, safeguarding price stability, and promoting public confidence in the Nigerian economy.”

However, he observed that recent developments have exposed deep-seated weaknesses. According to him, “Developments in recent years – ranging from governance concerns, foreign exchange distortions, monetary policy inconsistency, weak oversight mechanisms, to the challenges witnessed around currency redesign and policy communication – have exposed structural gaps in the principal Act.”

A key objective of the bill, Onakalausi said, is restoring sound corporate governance. He argued that in most jurisdictions, the Governor manages day-to-day operations while the Board provides oversight—an arrangement that ensures institutional balance.

While stressing that “Both roles are meant to be separate to avoid conflict of interest,” he noted that “The current CBN Act merges the positions of Governor and Board Chairman, creating an avoidable concentration of power. This bill separates these roles to ensure professional oversight without interference in day-to-day operations.”

Onakalausi added that the bill seeks to strengthen monetary policy independence and bring Nigeria’s regulatory architecture in line with global standards. “This bill restructures the MPC to improve expertise, independence, and transparency, aligning Nigeria with best practices seen in economies such as the United Kingdom, South Africa, the European Union, and Brazil.”

He also highlighted concerns over the historic misuse of Ways and Means financing. “It prevents fiscal abuse as Section 38 (Ways and Means Advances) has historically been one of the most abused provisions under the CBN Act.

“This bill introduces a clear limit – 10% of the previous year’s actual revenue – to prevent inflationary financing of government deficits and ensure fiscal responsibility,” he said.

Additional provisions of the bill focus on safeguarding the naira and improving transparency in foreign exchange management.  It also introduces “A 90-day notice, impact assessments, mandatory National Assembly briefing before major monetary actions like redesign or demonetisation,” ensuring that sudden policy shocks are avoided.

While acknowledging the need for central bank autonomy, Onakalausi maintained that such independence must be accompanied by strong oversight mechanisms.

The bill proposes new reporting standards that will require the apex bank to submit its annual audited accounts within two months, provide quarterly reports on monetary policy decisions, and maintain a publicly accessible website containing all its publications.

Other key amendments include revising Section 6 to read: “A professional Chairman separate from the Governor, experienced in economics, banking, finance, or public financial institutions.” Section 8 is also amended to state: “Governor and Deputy Governors to serve a single six-year term.”

To promote continuity and reduce political interference, the draft legislation provides that “Two Deputy Governors must be drawn from internal Directors for institutional continuity.”

The reconstituted Monetary Policy Committee will consist of the Governor, four Deputy Governors, two board members, and four external experts who, according to the bill, “Must be independent and cannot hold public office.”

If passed, the bill would mark one of the most far-reaching reforms of the CBN Act since its enactment, with implications for governance, monetary policy, and the broader financial system.

Nigeria recorded a trade surplus of N6.69tn in the third quarter of 2025, at a 27.29 per cent growth rate, continuing a trend of trade surpluses. Stakeholders attribute the consistent positive performance to the economic reforms in the foreign exchange market.

Latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics on foreign trade in goods showed that total exports in Q3 2025 stood at N22.81tn, while imports amounted to N16.12tn, resulting in a surplus of N6.69tn.

The figure represents a 27.29 per cent year-on-year rise, compared to the N5.26tn surplus recorded in Q3 2024. However, it reflects a 10.36 per cent decline from the N7.46tn surplus posted in Q2 2025.

Economists and private-sector groups explained to The PUNCH that the Q3 2025 foreign trade figures showed that reforms in the FX market, trade liberalisation, and currency adjustments have boosted export competitiveness and encouraged backward integration.

Stakeholders, including the Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, stated that the reforms had significantly strengthened Nigeria’s export position.

Yusuf said, “The current economic reforms have resulted in a situation where export performance has been increasing because of the reform in the foreign exchange market, the liberalisation of the market, the ease with which export proceeds can come in, and the fact that the depreciation in the currency has made our export sector more attractive and more competitive.”

He added that the policy environment had also slowed imports. “Once you experience depreciation, imports become more expensive and less attractive. People will now import only if they don’t have a choice. Local products, especially those with high local content, are generally more competitive,” he stated.

Yusuf explained that the FX reforms had pushed firms into backward integration, saying, “We are seeing more backward integration now than before because it is cheaper to use local resources than to bring in resources from outside the country.”

Although some short-term shocks, including insecurity, logistics challenges and the recent 30 per cent local value-addition policy for shea exports, had affected certain sectors, he stressed that Nigeria remained on course. “Our balance of trade and balance of payment situation has improved as a result of the reform,” the CPPE chief stressed.

The PUNCH had reported the Former President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, stating that the country’s export growth trends aligned with the expectations of the market.

He noted that non-oil exports should continue to expand, citing growing investment in processing and value addition. According to him, “the various efforts by individuals and companies should see a steady growth in non-oil exports.”

Idahosa said the fall in crude exports was expected due to increased domestic refining. “Since the government has resumed the Naira for crude to all refineries, we expect exports of crude to reduce,” he said, adding that this only underscored the need to deepen non-oil export growth.

He explained that currency reforms were already yielding the intended effect. “The whole idea of unifying the exchange rate is that we should be gaining from exports since the value of the Naira has come down. Most countries tactically devalue their currency to promote exports,” he said.

Idahosa stressed that Nigeria must remain an export-led economy. “Any strong economy in the world must be a significant exporter of goods and services. That is the only way to keep the currency strong,” the former LCCI president added.

The NBS data further showed that agricultural imports rose to N1.10tn, a 25.03 per cent increase from Q3 2024 but a 6.87 per cent drop from Q2 2025. Raw material imports surged 27.70 per cent year-on-year to N2.02tn, while manufactured goods imports stood at N7.77tn.

On the export side, crude oil remained dominant at N12.81tn, followed by other petroleum gases and manufactured products. Agricultural exports fell 11.69 per cent year-on-year to N786.62bn, while raw material exports jumped 136.38 per cent to N1.04tn.

Nigeria’s top five export destinations in Q3 2025 were India, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Italy. Stakeholders noted that despite some sectoral declines, recent figures showed that Nigeria’s trade structure was shifting in line with policy goals.

Yusuf called for policy stability to sustain gains, saying, “Consistency in policy is what guarantees continuity. The reform has come to stay.”

Nigeria’s petrol import bill fell sharply in the first nine months of 2025, dropping by N6.07tn compared with the same period of 2024, according to an analysis of National Bureau of Statistics trade data.

The value of imported motor spirit, ordinary, stood at N5.42tn between January and September 2025, far below the N11.50tn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024. The contraction represents a 52.82 per cent collapse in the country’s petrol import bill, a shift analysts link to improvements in domestic refining output and reduced dependence on offshore supply.

A breakdown of the quarterly data shows that the decline has been consistent since the start of the year. In the first quarter of 2024, Nigeria spent N3.81tn on PMS imports, but this fell to N1.76tn in the first quarter of 2025, indicating a 53.8 per cent decline, or about N2.05tn.

The second quarter followed the same pattern, with PMS imports sliding from N4.36tn in Q2 2024 to N2.38tn in Q2 2025. This represented a year-on-year fall of N1.99tn, or 45.6 per cent. The third quarter recorded the sharpest contraction: petrol imports dropped from N3.32tn between July and September 2024 to N1.29tn in the same period of 2025, a decrease of N2.03tn or 61.2 per cent.

Across all three quarters combined, Nigeria imported N6.07tn less PMS than it did in 2024, underscoring the magnitude of the shift in its petroleum supply structure.

Although the NBS has not attributed the decline to a single factor, the speed and scale of the reduction align with ongoing improvements in domestic production capacity.

The trend also suggests a gradual easing of foreign exchange pressure caused by large-scale fuel importation since the subsidy reform of 2023. The NBS filings show that PMS remained one of the country’s top import items through 2024, but its share has thinned steadily.

In Q1, Q2, and Q3 of 2025, motor spirit still featured prominently in the import basket, but at far lower values than in previous years. The declining import trend corresponds with the growing influence of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility, which began diesel and aviation fuel production in January and added petrol output in September, and is considered central to Nigeria’s goal of fuel self-sufficiency.

The refinery’s entry has created greater competition in the downstream market, with petrol retail prices in the country dropping randomly throughout the year. However, operations at the facility have faced early challenges. In March, Dangote Refinery temporarily suspended local currency sales due to difficulty in sourcing foreign exchange, as the refinery purchases crude oil in dollars but receives payments in naira.

The Federal Government has since stepped in to resolve the naira-for-crude bottleneck, allowing the refinery to continue the deal and reducing Nigeria’s reliance on petrol imports.

The President of the Dangote Group and founder of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Aliko Dangote, earlier said that there would be an announcement of what he called a major ‘shakedown’ in the entire country soon. Dangote said this was not about price reduction, but the complete overhaul of the downstream sector.

He stated this in an interview with newsmen following the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to the $20bn refinery in Lekki, Lagos.

Asked to mention the ‘big thing’ he had in store for Nigerians with the refinery, Dangote replied, “Now that the President has visited and he has given us additional energy, we will inform you, you will hear from us soon, and that will be one of the major shakeups in the entire country. It is not the reduction of price; it will be the total overhaul of the downstream.”

Dangote, who refused to let the cat out of the bag, noted that the company would go on a “massive trajectory” with the refinery. “I told the President that he had not seen anything yet; we are going on a massive trajectory, much more than what you have seen here. If you come back in the next five years, the refinery will be on the back burner,” he stated

The businessman also restated that the refinery would be listed on the stock exchange market, starting with the fertiliser company this year. Dangote noted that the refinery offered extensive benefits to the Nigerian economy and its people, declaring that the days of long fuel queues were over in Nigeria.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s economic transformation, supporting your administration’s efforts to build a self-reliant, globally competitive nation. We have remained Nigeria’s highest tax-paying company.  With continued collaboration and shared resolve, we are confident that the journey ahead will usher in even greater opportunities for our people and our country,” Dangote said.

In October 2025, Dangote said there are plans to expand the Dangote oil refinery from the 650,000 capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, the largest in the world. The PUNCH first reported in July that the refinery planned to scale up to 700,000 bpd by December this year.

According to S&P Global, the Nigerian business mogul is seeking to double the size of the refinery with Middle Eastern funding, putting it on track to become the largest in the world. The Dangote refinery has transformed Nigeria into a net exporter of diesel and jet fuel and supplies vast quantities of petrol that were once imported from Europe.

Dangote was said to have described his ambitions to develop African energy independence as a “herculean task.” “We have to build the refinery again, either here or somewhere else. But really, somewhere else is not possible because we’d have to go and spend so much building infrastructure, and we have the infrastructure already here,” Dangote was quoted as saying.