Business

NDPC investigates Remita, Sterling Bank for alleged data breach

Published

4 months ago

April 6, 2026

Preport

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has announced that it is carrying out an investigation into an alleged data breach involving Remita Payment Services Ltd., Sterling Bank, and other entities.

The investigation notice was disclosed on Sunday in a statement signed by the NDPC Head, Legal, Enforcement and Regulations, Babatunde Bamigboye, noting that the efforts are in line with the commission’s procedure, after receiving the ‘Notice of Investigation’ on 1 April.

The NDPC confirmed that the relevant parties and individuals have been providing information for the purpose of addressing the incident.

Cybercrime tracking platform, Dark Web Informer, announced in an X post on 31 March that there was “a massive breach allegedly from Remita, a major Nigerian payment processing platform, that has been leaked on a popular cybercrime forum.”

According to the report, a total of “3TB of S3 storage, 800GB+ of KYC documents (IDs, passports, photos, bank statements, electricity bills), MySQL/Postgres databases, logs, docker registries, source codes, government HSM keys, GitKraken to S3 backups and sources codes, 35,000+ password hashes, and three databases”, were breached on the Remita platform.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to Remita through email and on social media platforn X for clarity on the alleged data breach, but the payment platform did not respond.

Additionally, there were reports of a separate alleged data breach involving Sterling Bank around the same time period.

NDPC probes

In its statement on Sunday, the NDPC said that it is probing the alleged data breaches to ensure that data subjects are protected and to find the mitigating measures to counter the data breaches.

“The investigation aims to ensure that data subjects are protected with appropriate technical and organisational measures.

“The investigation by NDPC covers, among others, the types of personal data involved, the nature and scope of the alleged breach, the risk to data subjects and the mitigation measures carried out where a breach is confirmed,” the statement read.

On further clarified that companies that use digital payment systems without appropriate technical and organisational measures will also be examined as part of a wider effort to ensure the integrity of the ecosystem.

“The Commission’s National Commissioner/CEO, Dr Vincent Olatunji, has directed that organisations that employ digital payment systems without putting in place appropriate technical and organisational measures as mandated under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act), will also be examined as part of a wider effort to ensure the integrity of the ecosystem,” the statement read.

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Otedola raises First HoldCo stake to 27.49% with fresh N20.7 billion share purchase

Published

6 hours ago

August 17, 2026

Preport

Femi Otedola, the chairman of First HoldCo Plc, acquired 147.7 million new shares in the banking group on Monday, taking his stake in the company to 27.49 per cent.

In a transaction announced in a regulatory filing signed by the group’s Company Secretary, Abiola Baruwa, Mr Otedola purchased 147,737,699 additional shares at N140 per share.

The additional shares, which represent 0.33 per cent of the company’s outstanding shares, were purchased through Calvados Global Services Limited and valued at N20.7 billion.

Following the purchase, Mr Otedola now holds a total of 12.05 billion shares in the financial institution, representing about 27.49 per cent of the company.

The First HoldCo chair’s total shareholding in the company is valued at about N1.65 trillion, based on the company’s share price of N136.90 as of 4:00 p.m. (WAT) on 17 August.

The businessman has continued to increase his investment in the financial institution since emerging as its largest shareholder in 2021.

READ ALSO: Otedola acquires additional 138 million First HoldCo shares worth ₦18.1 billion

The latest purchase is the second time in August that Mr Otedola has increased his stake, following his acquisition of about 138 million shares in the financial services group, valued at approximately N18.1 billion, about a week ago.

Also, on 30 July, Mr Otedola increased his stake in the financial services group by acquiring an additional 1.78 billion shares valued at about N222.2 billion.

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Business

NGX Trading Volume Surges 127% as Investors Exchange ₦176.06bn in One Week

Published

14 hours ago

August 17, 2026

Preport

Trading activity on the nations bourse recorded a sharp increase in the week ended August 14, 2026, as investors exchanged 12.153 billion shares valued at ₦176.058 billion across 224,146 deals.

The performance represents a 126.8 percent increase in traded volume compared with the 5.359 billion shares worth ₦139.053 billion exchanged in 261,869 deals in the previous week. Turnover value also increased by 26.6 percent, while the number of deals declined by about 14.4 percent.

The increase in activity was also reflected in other trading indicators. Market depth improved to 27.76 percent from 21.67 percent in the previous week, while average daily value traded rose to ₦35.21 billion from ₦27.81 billion.

The Financial Services Industry dominated market activity, accounting for 11.212 billion shares valued at ₦88.991 billion across 102,246 deals. The sector contributed 92.25 percent of total equity turnover by volume and 50.55 percent by value.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry followed with 246.127 million shares worth ₦51.605 billion traded in 27,169 deals, while the Services Industry ranked third with 198.195 million shares valued at ₦1.995 billion across 13,747 deals.

Activity was particularly concentrated in three equities; Fortis Global Insurance Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc. The trio accounted for 9.488 billion shares worth ₦36.219 billion in 1,781 deals, representing 78.07 percent of total equity turnover volume and 20.57 percent of turnover value for the week.

The fixed-income segment also recorded increased activity, with investors trading 232,979 units valued at ₦226.258 million in 35 deals, compared with 117,372 units worth ₦121.249 million in the previous week.

In the Exchange Traded Products segment, 2.346 million units valued at ₦501.051 million were traded across 5,291 deals.

Despite the surge in trading activity, the broader equities market closed lower as investors took profits following recent gains. The NGX All-Share Index declined by 1.20 percent to 242,619.20 points, while market capitalisation fell by 1.19 percent to ₦156.624 trillion.

Market breadth, however, showed some improvement. 26 equities appreciated during the week, unchanged from the previous week, while the number of declining equities eased to 59 from 63. 62 equities closed unchanged, compared with 58 in the preceding week.

The market breadth ratio consequently improved to 0.69x from 0.62x in the previous week, indicating a narrower gap between gainers and decliners despite the decline in the benchmark index.

Trans-Nationwide Express Plc led the gainers’ chart with a 32.09 percent increase, followed by International Energy Insurance Plc, which advanced 31.68 percent, and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, which gained 13.77 percent. On the other side, AVA Capital Plc topped the losers’ chart with a 34.55 percent decline, followed by Unilever Nigeria Plc, down 18.94 percent, and Zichis Agro Allied Industries Plc, which shed 15.08 percent.

Meanwhile, Lasaco Assurance Plc expanded its share capital following the listing of 9.236 billion additional ordinary shares on the NGX Daily Official List on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of five new ordinary shares for every six existing shares held as of February 20, 2026. Following the listing, Lasaco Assurance’s issued and fully paid-up share capital increased from 11.084 billion shares to 20.320 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

Despite the week’s moderation, the broader market remains firmly positive for the year, with the NGX All-Share Index recording a year-to-date return of 55.91 percent as of August 14.

Sectoral performance has been even stronger in parts of the market, with the NGX Oil and Gas Index up 94.81 percent year-to-date, followed by the NGX Premium Index at 85.14 percent and the NGX Industrial Goods Index at 82.84 percent, underscoring the strength of the market’s gains despite the week’s profit-taking.

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