Software Error Triggers ₦13.66 Billion Transfer, 176 Nigerians Sued
A software error caused a ₦13.66 billion erroneous transfer within Nigeria's banking system, resulting in legal action against 176 individuals. The incident exposes systemic technical risk in the country's financial infrastructure.
NIBSS Glitch: the system created the money, then sued the people who spent it
A software error inside Nigeria's Inter-Bank Settlement System credited 176 people with money that was never actually sent from anywhere — no account was debited, the funds were conjured by a bug. Most recipients did what anyone would do: paid rent, bought stock, settled school fees.
Now NIBSS wants courts to freeze every bank account nationwide linked to each person's identity number. Not just the account the funds landed in — every account they own, anywhere in the country.
That is a terrifying amount of financial punishment for people whose only act was receiving a notification and trusting it. The uncomfortable question the lawsuit raises is one Nigeria's payment infrastructure has never had to answer cleanly: when the system fails and ordinary people act in good faith on what the system tells them, who bears the loss?