Inside Eyowo’s excruciating ordeal with Nigerian regulators and the neobank’s path to restoration

On May 22 2023, executives at Eyowo were halfway into a Monday morning meeting planning for the next iteration of the Nigerian-based digital bank when some side chatter took over the meeting. Yomi Adedeji, Co-CEO of Eyowo, was initially startled by the distraction but the reason soon became apparent when he checked his phone notifications. 

Some executives had gotten a circular from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) citing that it had revoked the licences of Eyowo and 46 other companies. The apex monetary regulator followed with a list of another 132 Microfinance Banks, Finance Companies, and Mortgage Banks, whose licences were also revoked.

Initially, it was a bit confusing to the team because there were two lists from the CBN — only one had Eyowo listed.

“Some people were saying maybe we weren’t part of it but once some media publications pushed out the story of the CBN revoking the licence of Eyowo and others, there was no turning back,” Adedeji told Bendada.com over a call in January 2024.

Last updated: July 2, 2026