From Olalekan Awojodu, Abuja
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has restated that “efficient and timely adjudication” of cases will promote stability in the Nigerian financial sector and also boost investors’ confidence.
Ariwoola stated this on Monday at a capacity building workshop for Justices and Judges of the Court of Appeal and Federal High Court on Banking and Financial Services.
The workshop is with the theme: ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Banking Sector Reforms and Economic Growth in Nigeria’,
While explaining his stance, the CJN noted that time was of essence for a cross discussion of the legal and contextual issues including the challenges encountered by operators and regulators of the banking and financial services sector in relation to the judicial system.
According to him, it is only by identifying possible solutions to the problems that the Nigerian banking and financial economy can thrive well.
At the occasion, the CJN further charged relevant stakeholders to continue to improve the competence and capacity of judicial officers in the areas of substantive and procedural law, judicial ethics and skill, as well as social context awareness of issues that are critical to the well-being of the country.
“The banking sector is operated based on the assurances of trust and confidence”, the CJN stressed that such trust and confidence “can be easily eroded where there are delays and inefficiencies in speedily resolving disputes arising from the sector. Not only are courts becoming more automated, but our rules of court have also evolved to include IT solutions and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, amongst other strategies that enhance more efficiency in the administration of justice,” Ariwoola stated further.
Speaking earlier, the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice Salisu Abdullahi, described the workshop organized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Juris Law in collaboration with the NJI as a platform for bankers, financial experts, regulators and other stakeholders in the banking and financial sector to discuss and agree on approaches that will best secure the successful implementation of recent reforms relating to the sector.
Also speaking, the President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mr Ken Opara, stated that the effective and timely determination of disputes bordering on financial system stability is crucial to the banking sector because it reduces the number of public funds to be expended on such matters.
He then called on the Judiciary to enhance mediation and conciliation mechanisms for dispute resolutions, Opara tasked the Judiciary to create and embrace online payment platforms to ease the filing of court processes to eradicate delays associated with manual processes.
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