Ecobank MD Urges Auditors to Enforce Corporate Governance

By Nume Ekeghe

The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Charles Kie has called on audit executives of banks to the take advantage of their independence and unfettered access to their respective boards,management and regulators to entrench a sound governance environment in banks and stem potential bank failure.

The auditors, he said, has a strategic role in instituting sound corporate governance culture in the banks.

Kie, who gave this advice recently while presenting a paper titled, ‘The Role of Audit in Promoting Good Corporate Governance in the Financial Services Industry,’ at the 39th quarterly general meeting of the association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), observed that the recent warning by Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) that another bank failure was imminent in the country, on the back of weak corporate governance culture and weak internal control must be taken seriously.

He pointed out that the last two decades have been eventful in terms of changes in the corporate governance landscape.

He stressed that abuses by executives and governance failures had led to unprecedented changes in regulatory frameworks and how businesses are controlled and directed locally and globally.

He said, “My dear auditors, the expectations are high and you must justify the confidence reposed on you by investors and other stakeholders.

“The social cost of banking crisis is difficult to estimate, but the public funds used to bail out distressed banks run into billions of naira. The time to act is now.”

Furthermore, the Ecobank boss observed that internal auditors were increasingly being criticised for their effectiveness in instilling a proper control and governance environment, urging them to stand up and be counted on the side of integrity and professionalism.