By BRIDGET CHIEDU ONOCHIE, Abuja

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and over 70 judges will be attending an e-workshop on enforcement of Movable Assets and Credit Reporting Acts, 2017.

The workshop, which holds between October 27 and 28, is organised by the National Judicial Institute (NJI), CBN, the World Bank Group and the Juris Law Office with the theme, “The Role of the Judiciary in Ensuring Effectiveness of the Secured Transaction in Movable Assets and Credit Reporting Acts 2017.”

The meeting will afford judges and other stakeholders in the financial sector the opportunity to scrutinise both laws and agree on how the Judiciary can enhance their effective application.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the acting president had on May 31, 2017, signed the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act, 2017 (otherwise known as Collateral Registry Act) and the Credit Reporting Act, 2017 into law.

The two acts were expected to ultimately facilitate access to more affordable credit for Nigerians.

The Collateral Registry Act ensures that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria can register their movable assets such as motor vehicles, equipment and accounts receivable in the National Collateral Registry, and use same as collateral for accessing loans. This is expected to increase their chances of accessing financing and address one of the major obstacles faced by MSMEs.

Meanwhile, the Credit Reporting Act provides for credit information sharing between Credit Bureaus and lenders (such as banks) as well as other institutions that provide services on credit such as telecommunication companies and retailers.

Considering that access to credit is critical to economic growth and is considered to be the motor for driving private sector development, the workshop will also be attended by CBN’s Director of Development Finance, Philip Yila Yusuf and the Registrar, National Collateral Registry, Osa Amadasun.

Meanwhile, resource persons are drawn from both judiciary and financial sector of the economy. They include Osaro Eghobamien (SAN); Director Legal Services, CBN, Kofo-Abdulsalam Alada; Augustine Edet of Pan African University; a World Bank/IFC Senior Credit Infrastructure Specialist, Ubong Awah and the Principal Partner, Juris Law Office, Niyi Ayoola-Daniels. (The Guardian)

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