CBN Probe: Experts want FG to engage audit firms

Following the appointment of a private investigator, Osayande Obaze to probe the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), some financial experts have advised the Federal Government to engage a consortium of audit firms to carry out such investigation.

The stakeholders, who commented on the FG’s appointment of the former Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), noted that the law empowered the FRC to carry out such investigation, adding that going outside the FRC to appoint an individual could send the wrong message.

According to Prof. Uche Uwaleke, the Director, Institute of Capital Market Studies, Nasarawa State University Keffi, it is not out of place for the president to commission an enquiry into the activities of the apex bank.
Uwaleke, however, said that a consortium of audit firms could be trusted to do a more thorough probe than a private investigator.

“The CBN is the banker to the Federal Government, and in that regard, it is not out of place for the president to commission an enquiry into the activities of the bank.

“But in doing so, the president will approach it better by engaging the services of a consortium of reputable audit firms rather than giving that responsibility to an individual ” he said.

Mr Okechukwu Unegbu, a past president of the Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said that a private investigator might be influenced by certain personal considerations in carrying out the probe.

Unegbu said Obaze has had issues with the apex bank since his time at the FRC, which could influence his verdict.

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He said that the government needed to have engaged reputable audit firms to thoroughly examine the CBN.

“It is not right for the president to appoint a single individual to do such an investigation.

“The guy they hired is a controversial person who has had issues with the CBN even from the time he was at the FRC, and he is going to be a bit biased.

“We need reputable and impartial audit firms to do the examination,” he said.

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