DG Commends CBN For Timely Intervention In Banking Sector

Dele Alimi, the Director-General of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, has said the banking sector has been saved from devastation by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the correction of some of the corporate governance infractions in the industry.

Alimi said this while speaking in an interview with The PUNCH, noting that there is still more to be done to ensure that corporate governance was entrenched in the system.

“Truth is that we have come a long way when we look at corporate governance in the banking sector.

"I agree that for a long time, adequate attention was not paid to good corporate governance in the sector, especially because the regulators did not provide the required supervision.”

He said that the situation is not a strange one as poor corporate governance had also been seen in advanced countries.

“In fact, the CBN must be commended for the timely interventions in recent times, which nipped in the bud what could have been a more devastating situation in the banking sector,” he said.

Alimi also laid emphasis on the importance of a code of ethics to corporate governance in Nigeria.

He explained that the essence of the code of ethics is to educate and help directors when they find themselves in difficult situations and would not know what to do, saying that ignorance was no longer an excuse.

“The fact that this document is public has made people realise that there is a standard by which directors can be judged unlike before when anything would go.

"The code is a conglomerate of all best practices rules globally.

“However, what we have done is to look out for the best and bring them together within our own environment, taking into conclusion the peculiarity of our own environment and also the needs of our people and our economy.

"To an extent, it has impacted well, and shareholders now know what to do and how to hold people accountable when they are on boards of organisations.”