• Saturday, March 30, 2024
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CIBN advocates leveraging technology to improve administration of Justice

Riding on the back of the tiger

Banking and Judiciary stakeholders have in unison insisted that the administration of Justice process must leverage in technology from the negative effects of COVID-19 in the new normal.

Speaking at the 20th edition of the National Seminar on Banking and Allied Matters for Judges, organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) , in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute, NJI, under the auspices of the Bankers Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the bank chiefs that included Godwin Emefiele, Governor Central Bank of Nigeria, Bayo Olugbemi, President/chairman of Council, CIBN noted that the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and compliance with the social distancing precautions measures have resulted in the adoption of technology to facilitate mass communication and business processes in the country.

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In his presentation, the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele who was represented by the Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Aisha Ahmad, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has unraveled itself as a global health and economic crisis of seismic proportions. According to Emefiele ‘Domestic and international travel and global trade value chains have been severely disrupted with significant negative impact on financial markets, financial services industry, oil & gas, health, transport & aviation, education, hospitality & tourism, to mention just a few. Individuals, families, businesses, industries, economies, countries – all have had to adapt to a new normal, even as global coronavirus cases continue to rise above 50 million.’

He stated that ‘the effects of the pandemic, particularly the crash in international oil prices, disruption in trade value chains and muted business activities during the lockdowns have severely impacted economic output and heightened domestic macroeconomic vulnerabilities with GDP growth for the second quarter (Q2) 2020 contracting by 6.10%; compared to 1.87% growth in the first quarter (Q1), 2020, a decline of -7.9%.

Further the apex bank governor noted that ‘the Nigerian financial services sector continues to be resilient, with positive financial soundness indicators evidenced by strong capital adequacy, liquidity and asset quality metrics. Most importantly, banks and other financial institutions (OFIS) sustained the credit growth momentum, channeling significant amount of lending (over N3.7 trillion) to the real sector– manufacturing, consumer, agriculture, etc. The banking and payments system also retained its operational resilience, maintaining availability of electronic payment and mobile banking channels. For instance, electronic transaction volumes increased by about 67% during the lock down with increased transactions at agent networks, whilst the payment system infrastructure accommodated the surge as more citizens moved to electronic channels.’