REVEALED: Only 50 Nigerians Owe Banks N5.23Trillion

50 customers owe commercial banks the sum of N5.23tn, representing 33.4% of total private sector credit exposure of N15.68tn, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Financial System Stability has stated.

The FSS report, posted on the CBN website on Saturday, also showed that the nation’s banks gave N1.537tn loans to oil companies and some state governments in the first six months of the year.


“The total exposure to the top 50 obligors stood at N5.23tn (33.4 percent) of total industry credit exposure of N15.68tn,” the CBN said in the report.



The report did not give the identities of the 50 big bank debtors, but it indicated that non-performing loans in the period under review grew by 158 per cent from N649.63bn at end-December 2015, to N1.678tn at end of June 2016.

It also said as of June ending 2016, loans to oil and gas sector by the banking sector had hit N4.5tn, representing 28.77 per cent of the total industry loan.

The CBN noted that the development did not augur well for the banking industry.