Opay is currently under fire as Lawmakers expose foreign ownership and regulatory lapses in Nigeria’s Fintech Sector.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that the National Assembly has raised alarm over what it describes as disturbing gaps in the regulation and monitoring of fintech companies, singling out OPay for operating largely from China while serving millions of Nigerian users.
The revelation came during an interview on Arise News TV with Hon. Olufemi Bamisile, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee investigating fintech operations in Nigeria, who expressed deep concern over ownership opacity, poor KYC compliance, and weak oversight of digital finance operators.
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“We found out yesterday that OPay is in China. The owner of the place is in China, and this is worrisome to us in Nigeria and the National Assembly,” Bamisile stated, describing the discovery as a serious red flag in the country’s financial ecosystem.
Lawmakers Alarmed by Poor Transparency
According to Bamisile, the ongoing investigation revealed troubling irregularities in how some fintech firms operate, noting that emails sent to several companies, including OPay, Moniepoint, and Kuda, bounced back, indicating that regulatory agencies may not even know the physical locations of these operators.
“We invited major fintechs to appear—Moniepoint, OPay, Kuda—but they didn’t show up. Some of the mails we sent to them returned undelivered,” he said. “It’s becoming clear that some of these platforms are running without proper oversight or identifiable local representation.”
Foreign Ownership Raises Security Concerns
The committee’s preliminary findings suggest a widening disconnect between regulators like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and lawmakers, with crucial information about company ownership and compliance unavailable to the National Assembly.
Industry watchers say this development raises national security questions; particularly around data protection, fund movement, and control of user information.
“If a financial platform that handles billions in transactions daily is effectively managed from outside Nigeria, it poses a real risk to consumer trust and national security,” a financial analyst told NaijaOnPoint Nigeria.
Regulatory Blind Spots Threaten Financial Stability
Despite multiple CBN directives to strengthen Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering measures, enforcement remains uneven and fragmented, creating loopholes for potential abuse. Lawmakers now fear that foreign-controlled fintechs like OPay may be exploiting these weaknesses to operate with minimal accountability.
Nigeria’s fintech industry, valued at over ₦600 trillion in transaction volume in 2024, has become indispensable to the economy but the latest revelations paint a worrying picture of an industry growing faster than its oversight mechanisms.
A Wake-Up Call for Regulators
Bamisile emphasized that the National Assembly will intensify efforts to ensure that fintech operators are properly licensed, monitored, and locally accountable.
“We can’t continue to allow faceless companies to handle Nigerians’ financial data and funds without clear oversight,” he said. “This must be done rightly, and it will be.”
The committee’s findings have sparked nationwide debate on the true identity and accountability of foreign-backed fintechs, especially as OPay continues to dominate the digital payment space with millions of Nigerian users.
As investigations deepen, OPay now faces heightened scrutiny from both lawmakers and the public raising fears that the once-celebrated fintech giant could become a symbol of unchecked foreign influence and regulatory failure in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy.