Overview

The document is the Keynote Address delivered by Chief (Dr.) J. O. Sanusi, CON, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at the 3rd Run of the Corporate Governance Seminar held at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja from 17th to 20th February 2004. The address emphasizes the critical importance of corporate governance in the aftermath of major corporate scandals like Enron (USA), WorldCom, Baring Bank (UK), and the financial crisis in Southeast Asian countries. Sanusi notes that these failures transcend geographical and sectoral boundaries, affecting both public and private sectors. Corporate governance is defined as building credibility, ensuring transparency and accountability, and maintaining effective information disclosure to build trust and sustain confidence among stakeholders. The principles of corporate governance, as outlined by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), focus on shareholders' rights, stakeholder roles, disclosure, transparency, and board responsibilities. Sanusi highlights that many sectors have suffered from poor governance, but the financial sector—under CBN's surveillance—has been hardest hit since the 1980s. He commends the CBN's efforts to strengthen supervisory capacity to ensure financial institutions operate with integrity and safety. The CBN is re-engineering its work processes to embed professionalism, accountability, and transparency in its statutory duties. The speech underscores the need for global adoption of corporate governance best practices and notes ongoing efforts by the Nigerian Federal Government to entrench accountability in both sectors.

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