By Felicia Imohimi/Perpetual Onuegbu
Abuja, April 23, 2026 (NAN) Fair Finance Nigeria (FFNG), a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, has urged Nigerian banks to modernise their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks to align with global standards and promote accountability in corporate finance.
The coalition made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of its ESG Policy Assessment report.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the coalition comprises Oxfam, BudgIT, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Connected Development (CODE), STEPS and Policy Alert.
The coalition called on financial regulatory institutions, relevant National Assembly committees and bank executives to convene a multi-stakeholder roundtable to review and modernise the sector’s ESG framework.
Mr Auwal Rafsanjani, Executive Director of CISLAC, said the 2012 Nigerian Sustainability Banking Principles (NSBP) had become outdated and created gaps that allowed weak sustainability practices.
According to him, the coalition’s assessment showed that leading commercial banks scored an average of 1.7 out of 10 against global ESG standards.
“The nation’s first-ever comprehensive policy assessment evaluated four banks, including Access Bank, Standard Chartered, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, across more than 400 international sustainability criteria.”
“The results show a banking sector deeply exposed to high-impact risks, yet alarmingly opaque in its practices. The overall average performance across the assessed banks sits at a critically low 1.7 out of 10.
“The assessment has relatively better performance in internal operational policies, particularly concerning labour rights, gender equality, and anti-corruption,” he said.
Rafsanjani said the report revealed low transparency, particularly in external financing commitments affecting host communities, climate protection and national revenue accountability.
He added that the banks recorded zero performance on tax transparency, noting that failure to disclose country-by-country revenues and financing activities in tax havens undermined global anti-money laundering standards.
“This severe level of opacity undermines the core principles of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) frameworks and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines, ignoring global standards designed to prevent the siphoning of vital public resources from developing nations,”he said.
Mr Tijani Ahmed, Country Director of Oxfam Nigeria, represented by the orhanisation’s Programme Manager, Accountable Governance, Mr Henry Ushie, described the scores on tax transparency and climate action as unacceptable.
Ahmed said financial institutions must take responsibility for the environmental and social impacts of investments beyond regulatory compliance.
“Institutions are reaping massive profits from high-impact sectors while refusing to be held accountable for the social and environmental footprints of their decisions.
“On climate gap in spite Nigeria’s extreme vulnerability to climate change, the banks averaged a shocking 0.9 out of 10 on climate action.
“On profiting without protection: the assessment shows that these banks provide zero or weak commitments to safeguarding human rights, and biodiversity within their wider investment portfolios and corporate supply chains.
“This is not just a disclosure gap, it is a failure of leadership in the financial sector,” he said.
According to him, although Standard Chartered recorded the highest score of 2.7, the performance largely reflected global headquarters commitments, with limited clarity on local implementation in Nigeria.
Ahmed explained that ESG principles were global standards designed to ensure that companies and countries complied with environmental requirements across their operations and value chains.
He said that under the environmental component, emphasis was placed on climate change compliance and the extent to which companies and institutions adhered to environmental standards.
According to him, organisations are expected to measure and understand their carbon footprints and adopt mitigation strategies aimed at keeping emissions within globally acceptable limits of about 1.5 degrees celsius.
Ahmed added that sustainability also required addressing broader environmental concerns, including biodiversity protection and preservation of the entire ecosystem to ensure long-term environmental sustainability.
Dr Austine Okere, Lead Analyst of FFNG, said the assessment aimed at strengthening ESG transparency, human rights compliance and sustainable investment practices within Nigeria’s banking sector.
According to Okere, the assessment will help banks and other financial organisations create a self-reinforcing cycle where financial institutions continuously improve their compliance with standards, ultimately resulting in more sustainable investments and asset management globally.
Okere said the report recommended reviewing the 2012 Nigerian Sustainability Banking Principles to align with international standards and strengthening stakeholder engagement to improve ethical compliance and sustainability governance.
Mr Francis Useni, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Regulatory Compliance, commended the coalition and urged stronger collaboration between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
FUA/PUO/FAK
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Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi
