The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has said that recent banking reform programmes of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would address all regulatory deficiencies in the nation banking sector.
President, Chartered Institute of Accounts of Nigeria, Elizabeth Adegite, said this is necessary as the programme would create room for more liquidity and stimulate the economy as well as financial base of the banks” at the 39th Annual Accounts Conference held in Abuja.
She, however, challenged chattered accountants in the country to play more critical role in ensuring good corporate governance in the organisations they serve either as a staff or external auditors but in accordance with the ethics of the profession. She said that accountants should see themselves as members of the larger society who would always be affected by the general success of the nation’s economy.
Also speaking at the conference, CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido said that some managing directors and directors of these troubled banks include bankers, accountants, lawyers and other professionals who threw away the ethics of their professions to plunder the banks at the detriment of their investors and the national economy.
According to him, “I would like to use this opportunity to express some of the concerns I have about the state of professionals in Nigeria. In the past, institutions were well run by professionals and politicians often linked with dubious practices. However, today, the professionals are not better”.
Sanusi said that some of the things that happened in the banks would shock Nigerians when they are eventually revealed in courts. “We have discovered that one MD gave out loans totalling N236 billion to companies that are linked to him. Just imagine that”, he added.
He also disclosed that one of the affected banks used depositors funds to purchase 50 per cent of its current shares, a practice, he said, was totally fraudulent in a deal where the share price has since fallen from between N25-30 per share to a mere N3 per share.
Also speaking to those present at the conference, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said that the economy had remained strong in spite of the global financial crisis which has affected other most countries all over the world.
Jonathan, who was represented by Dr. Mansur Mukhtar, Minister of Finance, said that the economic reforms of recent years paid off with the windfall from oil, high foreign reserves and a well capitalised banking system, preventing the type of economic crisis Nigeria witnessed during the oil price cycles of the early 1980s.
We should be wary of any quick turnaround for our continent because, global recovery of African economies may take longer time”. He said that the major challenge therefore is on how to implement short term responses to the crisis while staging focused on long term sustainability Mukchtar concluded.

Whyte Lydia