On June 29, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the release of a new framework called the Risk-Based Cyber-security Framework and Guidelines For Other Financial Institutions (or “The Guidelines”) for the purpose of regulating and tackling the issue of Cyber-security for Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) due to a recent rise in Cyber-attacks and threats to their Information Technology assets and digital operations.

This article will be focused on providing an overview the most relevant provisions of these guidelines, including the topics of :-

– What actually constitutes an OFI.

– The Regulatory agencies charged with enforcing the guidelines.

– The other relevant pieces of legislation (statutory, concurrent & subsidiary) governing the topic of Cyber-security for OFIs in Nigeria.

Are the Guidelines to have immediate effect?

No, the guidelines are to come into effect on the 1st of January, 2023, although it is advisable to commence compliace measures now if your business falls under the definition of an OFI.

What is an OFI under Nigerian law?

The Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) classifies Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) as including the following:-

– Bureaux De Change

– Credit Bureaux

– Discount Houses

– Financial Holding Companies

– Mortgage Guarantee Companies

This definition or classification doesn’t apply to Payment Processing Service Providers.

What is the main Regulatory agency charged with ensuring compliance with these guidelines?

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has Regulatory powers to ensure compliance with these guidelines by virtue of the guidelines themselves and the Central Bank of Nigeria Act.

What are the exact aims of these OFI Guidelines?

The aims of the guidelines are :-

– The promotion and maintenance of public trust & confidence in the OFI subsector.

– The promotion and implementation of best practices and appropriate Cyber-security standards by OFIs.

– Contribution of the CBN to the prevention and combating of cybercrimes in the OFI subsector.

– The creation of a safer and more secure cyber environment that supports information system security and the promotion of stability of the OFI subsector.

What are the notable provisions of the guidelines?

The notable provisions of the guidelines are as follows :

– The provision for the appointment of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) :- Every OFI is required to engage a CISO who shall report to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of an OFI and who shall be responsible for day-to-day Cyber-security operations of the OFI. For small-scale OFIs a part-time consultant or the head of the Information Technology department can be appointed as a CISO.

In hiring a CISO, a selected candidate must meet all educational requirements of a CISO stated in the OFI “approved persons” framework.

– The provision for Cyber-security Governance and Oversight :- This involves the following :

a). ensuring the priority of Cyber-security as a major agenda in the board meetings of all OFIs;

b). ensuring the preparation of a Cyber-security framework to the OFI supervision department of the CBN;

c). ensuring the preparation of a quarterly report on the cyber security status of OFIs to be reviewed by their boards of directors.

– The implementation of a Cyber-security Risk Management system – which requires that each OFI implements a Cyber-security system mainly covering the areas of:

a). risk assessment;

b). risk measurement;

c). risk mitigation/risk treatment;

d). risk monitoring and reporting. 

– The provision for the establishment of an Information Security Steering Committee (ISSC):- The guidelines require that all OFIs with over 30 employees required to establish an ISSC for executing the Cyber-security policy of the OFIs and where an OFI has less than 30 employees, a management committee can operate as an ISSC as long as the CISO of OFI is also a member of the committee.

– The provision on Cyber-security Operational Resilience :- An OFI shall be endeavour to be acquainted with its business environment and critical assets. 

All unauthorized software and hardware devices on its network shall be identified, documented, removed and reported appropriately.

– The provision for compliance with Statutory & Regulatory requirements :- OFIs are to ensure compliance with all the provisions of the guidelines as well as other guidelines of the CBN and the CBN Act, The BOFIA (Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act) , and The Cybercrime (Prohibition & Prevention Act)

– The provision on metrics, monitoring and reporting – an OFI shall put in place metrics and monitoring processes to ensure compliance, provide feedback on the effectiveness of controls and provide the basis for appropriate management decisions.

Conclusion :- The OFI Cyber-security guidelines are a step in the right direction considering the rather alarming rate of Cyber-attacks on Information systems and databases of Finance sector operators in Nigeria, inadvertently made worse by the introduction of Open Banking.

Most times, I do get asked this question a lot, especially from couples seeking divorce or separation. They are always enquiring to know who owns what property and how it will be shared amongst them.

Some of the most likely scenarios could be that the wife bought the land and the husband paid for the erection of the structure, or the wife erected the structure on the land the man bought, or both the husband and wife contributed money to the purchase of land and its building. 

This issue has been provided answers to by law but because of the nature of our society where some cultures still do not permit women to own properties, especially landed property, and the false narrative that whatever property a wife acquired while in “her husband’s house” belongs to the husband is still making this question an everyday issue which lawyers and relationship counselors are already tired of answering. 

What the law says; 

When the wife and the husband acquire a property together, ie they both contributed financially or materially to the acquisition of such a property, they are deemed at law to be joint owners or co-owners of such property; it does not matter what each contributed or the magnitude or otherwise of the contribution of any of the partners, they are both deemed to co-owner such property. 

Joint or Co-ownership means that both owners own the whole of the property and they both have equal rights to the property. By this legal principle of co-ownership, If one owner dies the property will pass or devolve to the living partner. 

A spouse (be it the man or the wife) cannot by law legally assign the property in a will to another person, (not even to their kids) while the other spouse is still alive unless they both agreed that at the time of a partner’s demise, the property should be assigned to a third party. 

The problem as to how a property jointly owned by a husband and a wife is to be shared as stated earlier, always arises when the spouses are facing divorce, dissolution of marriage, or separation. Each of the co-owners is always laying claim to be the rightful owner of the property, basing their individual arguments on the fact that his or her contribution to the acquisition of the property is of a larger proportion compared to what the other partner contributed, but the law says that both of them own the property equally, in as much as they both contributed significantly to the acquisition of the property, it is insignificant as to what proportion they both contributed. 

What happens to a property jointly owned by the husband and wife when they are facing divorce or separation?
The court or the partners can adopt any of the following approach; 

1. The court can order that the property be sold or rented out and the proceeds shared between the partners or that the proceeds be used in taking care of their kid(s). Or
2. The court can order that the property be transferred to their child(ren). Or 
3. The court can order that the spouse keeping custody of the child(ren) keep the property. Or 
4. One of the spouses can voluntarily relinquish his/her rights of ownership to the other partner ie letting the other partner have and keep the property. 

On the final note, it is the law that whosoever person’s name is on the legal documents of a property; ie the deed of assignment or the deed of conveyance or the deed of mortgage is the legal owner of such property. Therefore, it is advisable that when husband and wife acquire a property together that their both names be on the legal documents of such property. Their (both) names should all be written in full in the document and not Mr. & Mrs. XYZ. For instance, Instead of Mr. and Mrs. John Doe, It should rather be Mr. John Doe  & Mrs. Jane Doe, If the wife is yet to legally adopt the husband’s last name, the wife should then use her maiden name in the legal documents of the property, written in full, that’s how each person’s interest and ownership in the property will be legally protected.

I get this question a lot: “How do you have time to do all that you do?”

My response:  I work hard daily to be in charge of seconds, minutes and hours of the day. And what that means is simple: I PLAN. In secondary school, I took 15 subjects (WAEC recommended 9) because I felt Economics was nice even as Further Mathematics was super-amazing. So, I took both. But since WAEC would not allow more than 9, I wrote GCE while in secondary to pass Economics, Commerce, etc. With simple time management, the extra academic load did not break me. In the bank, I ran two master’s degree programs and a correspondence doctoral program while working full time. What was the secret? Planning.

The biggest professional victory is victory over your time. If you master your time, you will win your future. Greatness has been achieved, not because of special talent, but rather due to total dedication, perseverance and commitment through the mastering of time. A man who cannot manage his seconds will wander through the boundless of time.

If you take 5 minutes to plan your day, you could save (or improve productivity by more than) 3 hours in a day. But having the discipline for those special 5 minutes is where outperformance comes. It is like a brilliant student in an exam: you first scan the questions, and then decide within yourself how to allocate time!

What is tomorrow going to look like? Take 5 minutes to think what it would look like before you sleep or if you prefer, in the early hours of tomorrow, plan it. Remember: write the important tasks of the day down, and as the day flies, adjust if necessary.

Do not wake up with no plan on the day’s agenda. If you do that, time will BOSS you because the clock does not stop.