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CBN seeks creation of financial Ombudsman, others

By on April 21, 2011

The House of Representatives, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders in the financial sector have backed the establishment of the Office of the Nigerian Financial Ombudsman.

Its duties are mainly to resolve “financial and related disputes in the Nigerian financial services sector and for related matters.”

The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, said in Abuja on Wednesday that the objective of having the office in place was to avoid the delays encountered in resolving financial disputes through the conventional courts.

Sanusi spoke at a public hearing held by the House Joint Committees on Banking/Currency/Finance/Justice on three financial sector bills.

They were “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Office of the Nigerian Financial Ombudsman; an Independent Body Charged with the Responsibility for Resolving Financial Related Disputes, 2010”; “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Nigerian International Financial Centre to Provide Financial Free Zone, 2010”; and “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulatory Commission and for Related Matters.”

Sanusi, who did the lead presentation on the relevance of the three bills, explained that they would help in strengthening the financial sector and reposition Nigeria as a hub for financial transactions in Africa.

He cited the challenges banks were facing in making credit facilities available to small and medium scale entrepreneurs in the country, adding that the bills would help to “unlock existing inter-bank disputes.”

In the case of the Nigerian International Financial Centre, Sanusi said that it would be modelled after the Dubai International Financial Centre, using Nigeria as “a catalyst for economic growth in Africa.”

The CBN governor added, “The NIFC will be established as a full service international financial centre focusing on a broad range of financial and ancillary services driven by a unique and separate regulatory, administrative and judicial framework in line with global standards.

“It is one of the key pillars in the strategy to make Nigeria Africa’s hub come 2020.”

Sanusi added that where centre would be located was not an issue for now, noting that what was uppermost was to have a legislation establishing it.

On the other hand, he explained that the National Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulatory Commission had the responsibility to “promote and regulate the practice and use of alternative dispute resolution mechanism in Nigeria.”

“The bill seeks to create alternative dispute resolution centres in states of the Federation to promote and coordinate the practice and use of alternative dispute resolutions in the Federation”, he stated.

The three bills had already passed first and second readings on the floor of the House.

Source : Punch