Insight type: Legal Alert

In a letter dated 20 June 2025 and addressed to all banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) outlined six transitional measures designed to support affected banks to exit from the regulatory forbearance regime, which was introduced to help banks manage their credit exposures and maintain stability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a judgment delivered on 25 February 2025, the Federal High Court allowed an appeal instituted by ALN Nigeria | Aluko & Oyebode on behalf of Rand Merchant Bank of Nigeria Limited (RMB or the Bank) against a judgment of the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT or the Tribunal) which upheld the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)’s assessment of RMB to additional withholding tax (WHT) liability of NGN 602 million inclusive of penalty and interest for the 2017 financial year, and set aside the TAT’s judgment and the assessment.

Generally, organisations may be categorised into those that have experienced cybersecurity incidents and those that would experience cyber incidents. The reality is that most organisations, whether they have experienced a cyber threat/incident in the past or not, may be on their way to their first or next cyber threat/incident.

These incidents may manifest in different ways; the most common occurrences include personal data breaches, loss of information, or other information technology-related happenstances or incidents which impact the information technology system/network.

On 2 April 2025, in what the U.S. President Donald Trump described as “America’s Liberation Day”, he imposed a 10% baseline tariff on nearly all imports into the U.S. market, which was set to take effect 3 days later. Through an executive order, the U.S. government released a list of countries and the respective duties and tariffs that will apply in Annex I.  In terms of applicability, the 10% duty was in addition to any other existing duties imposed on goods imported to the U.S. market. These duties were not, however, applied to goods listed in Annex II.

On 13 June 2025, the Central Bank of Nigeria (the  CBN), as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the resilience and stability of the Nigerian banking sector, issued a directive targeting banks currently operating under approved regulatory forbearance regimes, specifically in relation to credit exposures and single obligor limits (SOL).

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) recently issued two circulars that impact the operations and processes of several capital market operators in Nigeria.

The Land Use Act of 1978 (the LUA or the Act) – the primary legislation governing land rights in Nigeria, recognises the creation of various types of rights of occupancy in land. Typically, rights of occupancy created under the Act are evidenced by a certificate of occupancy (the Certificate) and are subject to the terms set-out in the Certificate. Given the qualification of the rights – they are not absolute, the State retains significant control and may revoke them in certain circumstances. Under the Act, the State’s power of revocation may be exercised either as a punitive measure or for overriding public interest.

The Federal Executive Council on Monday, 5 May 2025, approved the National Integrated Electricity Policy (NIEP), which replaces the National Electric Power Policy of 2001. The NIEP now stands as Nigeria’s comprehensive blueprint for addressing the inefficiencies in the country’s electricity sector and promoting sustainable energy development. The NIEP was developed pursuant to Section 3(1) of the Electricity Act 2023 (EA) which mandated the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Power to commence the process for the preparation and publication of the NIEP and Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) within one (1) year of the commencement of the EA.

In the landmark decision of Kuda Microfinance Bank Ltd v. Amarachi Kenneth Blessing, CA/EK/48/2024, the Court of Appeal, Ekiti Division, held that banks in Nigeria can lawfully freeze customer accounts without first obtaining a court order, provided there is a report of fraud or suspicious activity, and the customer has agreed to such terms.