By GRACE ALEGBA

The Association of Corporate Communication and Marketing Professionals in Banks (ACAMB) has assured that Nigerian banks are safe and healthy with none shutting down because of recapitalisation as being speculated on social media.

The association gave the assurance on Sunday, in a joint statement by its President, Mr. Rasheed Bolarinwa, and the General Secretary, Jide Sipe.

The statement referred to an Instagram video claiming that 12 banks would be shut down by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by March 2026.

The association said the video intended to mislead the public, stoke unnecessary panic and exploit alarmist misinformation for personal gain while advertising some wares.

“The content creator demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding of banking recapitalisation, making several erroneous and misleading assertions that are easily disprovable by anyone with basic knowledge of the Nigerian banking sector.

“As repeatedly explained by the CBN, the recapitalisation exercise is a forward-looking, proactive policy designed to strengthen the banking system and position it to support the Federal Government’s aspiration of a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

“It is not a crisis response, nor is it an indication of distress. Rather, it is a patriotic call for banks to scale up their capacity to drive economic growth and development,” the association noted.

The association explained that contrary to the false claims the nation’s banks are currently safe, sound and adequately capitalised, with strong capital adequacy buffers sufficient to meet both customer obligations and regulatory requirements.

According to ACAMB, the recapitalisation initiative focuses specifically on strengthening core ownership capital—namely share capital and share premium—rather than total shareholders’ funds or other capital instruments such as bonds and preference shares.

“The CBN has consistently emphasised that the exercise is aimed at growth and stability, not forced consolidation.

“All banks have a fair and realistic chance of meeting their recapitalisation targets, with more than one-third already having met theirs and most others at advanced stages of implementation.

“All banks submitted recapitalisation plans to the CBN in 2024, which were vetted and approved for feasibility before execution commenced.

“In its most recent assessment, the CBN publicly expressed satisfaction with the progress made and reaffirmed that banks are on track to meet the stipulated deadlines,” the association said.

The statement insisted that the misinformation is baseless and appears driven by mischief, ignorance and a reckless disregard for the economic consequences of false narratives.

The statement said that ACAMB will draw the attention of relevant law-enforcement agencies to the video and similar content, particularly where it borders on false representation, economic sabotage and violations of the Cybercrime Act.

It further said while freedom of expression is guaranteed, it carries corresponding responsibilities of truthfulness, accuracy and fairness.

The association said specific claims against certain banks deserve clarification.

It explained, “FirstBank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fidelity Bank and FCMB are international banks that have made significant progress in their recapitalisation programmes and are well positioned to complete them ahead of schedule.

“They have exceeded the capital thresholds for national banks and face no risk of undercapitalisation.

“Citibank Nigeria and Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria remain strong subsidiaries of their respective global parents, while Sterling Bank has completed key phases of its recapitalisation, including private placement and rights issues.

“Polaris Bank and other institutions mentioned also have clear recapitalisation pathways and remain operationally sound, with no indication of financial distress.”

The association recalled that the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, stated at his November briefing that the recapitalisation exercise “is progressing in an orderly manner and in line with regulatory expectations.

The association explained that the nation currently has 44 deposit-taking banks across various licence categories, all operating under strict regulatory oversight.

According to the body, Nigerians remain the ultimate beneficiaries of a resilient and well-regulated banking system, and the public is urged to continue their banking activities with confidence and without fear.

ACAMB also cautioned content creators and media organisations against chasing click-bait, trends or sensationalism around reputable financial institutions.

“Accurate, responsible reporting is welcome and protected; however, deliberate misinformation or panic-inducing narratives around the banking sector will be reported to the appropriate authorities in the interest of financial stability and public trust,” it said. (NAN)

Update news