…mulls legislation to back new framework
Amid growing disaffections by Nigerians over the Government’s poor financial inclusion plans, the Federal Government, on Monday, charged relevant stakeholders to restore public confidence in the government’s financial inclusion programme.
The Government had developed plans to ease transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance, as well as to help people manage risks, build wealth and invest in businesses.
This is as the Government said it would pursue legislation to address the issue of consumer trust, if necessary.
With Financial Inclusion, individuals and businesses are expected to have access to and use affordable financial products and services that meet their needs, which are delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.
Over the years, however, Nigerians have had issues with trusts.
Nurudeen Zauro, Special Adviser to the President, on Economic and Financial Inclusion, speaking at a stakeholders engagement forum in Abuja on Monday, charged Nigerians to “build public trust” in the management of financial inclusion, set clear declaration on where customers can make necessary complaints and work on the regulatory spectrum to address the challenges in the national inclusion issue.
“The People must trust and have confidence in the system, as well as evolve mechanisms on how people can seek redress for infractions”, he said.
He recalled how President Bola Tinubu had in 2024 issued an Order to strengthen partnership, collaboration, commitment among the stakeholders, as well as recognition of the importance of financial institution in the Nigerian economy.
“So what brings about this national framework for consumer trust? We believe that for people to come and be financially included, they have to build confidence and trust in the system”, he noted.
He recalled that there had been issues around cybersecurity, 419, trusts and even a lack of knowledge in terms of capacity building.
“So because of that, there’s a need for us to ensure that all the instrumentality of government are on board, they are doing their work in order to restore the trust of the last man, the poor and vulnerable Nigerian.
“That is why we started with the workshop with all the stakeholders.”
He disclosed that the stakeholders forum was the direct result of over one year of brainstorming sessions, which harmonised the national consumer trust framework.
“So we know a lot of Agencies that are doing good things, like the Central Bank, they are doing a fantastic job. All the regulators are also doing good things.
He assured that the Presidency would keep engaging stakeholders to see how we can serve Nigerians better.
He also revealed that the Presidency already has a draft framework.
“That’s why both the private and public sector institutions are all heavily represented in this at the end of the day, it will be issued as a national framework for the country.
“As we move on, if the situation demands legislation, then that will be done. Mr. President is pretty much ready, is available, to do all that is needed to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the financial system.
“ He will be able to say, yes, I believe we have, we have a trusted financial system”.
Aisha Olatiwoon, Director of Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said the CBN had done much in ensuring that consumers of the banking sector get remediation for breach of the financial inclusion plans of the Federal Government
“I think, where the issue is, is that every complaint is pushed by the consumer to CBN. Do, the reason I said the workshop today (Monday) is apt, bringing together various regulators from different industries, even beyond the financial system.”
The CBN blamed illiteracy on the side of the consumer for some of the challenges, saying, “Complaints that should come to CBN are basically complaints that remain unresolved by the financial institutions. And what do I mean by this?
“Customers are supposed to first escalate to their banks, and it is when the banks do not resolve within the regulatory specified period, or when the resolution is unsatisfactory to the consumer, then the consumer has a CBN backup, not withstanding all of this arrangement, the CBN has put in place a customer complaint management solution, which we are working to integrate with the industry dispute resolution system.
“That way, we have an overview and a very clear online visibility of companies and hold financial institutions responsible for not resolving within the set time”
BusinessDay reports that the event had brought together stakeholders from the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Nigeria Police Force, members of the National Assembly and other relevant stakeholders to address the issue of trust in the Nigerian financial inclusion plans.
