Stakeholders in the banking and auditing sectors have called for the use of technology to strengthen the sector.
These stakeholders made the call on Wednesday in Ikoyi, Lagos, during the 6th Quarterly General Meeting of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria. The event, which was themed ‘Internal Audit Function in the AI Era’, was hosted by the United Bank for Africa.
In his keynote address, the Group Managing Director of UBA, Oliver Alawuba, explained that artificial intelligence is no longer a distant conversation, stressing that it is already reshaping how banks serve customers, detect fraud, underwrite risk, automate operations, monitor transactions, manage data, and compete for relevance.
Alawuba, who was represented at the event by the Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management at UBA, Mr Ugochukwu Nwaghodoh, emphasised that the question now is no longer whether AI will transform banking, but whether governance, control, audit, and assurance will transform fast enough to keep banking safe, trusted, and future-ready.
“This is important because the value of audit in the AI era will increasingly be measured not only by the findings it reports, but by the losses it helps prevent, the risks it helps anticipate, the assurance it gives to the board, and the confidence it provides to customers, regulators, and stakeholders.
“For us, technology is not replacing the auditor. It is strengthening the auditor. It is enabling audit teams to spend less time on manual extraction and more time on judgment, interpretation, challenge, and insight. It is helping the function move from retrospective review to forward-looking assurance,” Alawuba said.
Alawuba, while appreciating the association for its sustained contribution to the Nigerian financial services industry and society at large, added that the theme for the event is very timely and consequential.
According to him, over the years, ACAEBIN has remained a critical pillar in strengthening assurance, promoting ethical standards, deepening professional competence, supporting regulatory alignment, and reinforcing the trust on which banking ultimately rests.
“In many ways, ACAEBIN’s work is quiet but powerful. When an audit is effective, institutions are stronger. When institutions are stronger, customers are better protected. When customers are better protected, confidence grows. And when confidence grows, the financial system becomes a more dependable engine for economic development,” he added.
He highlighted that internal audit has always been one of the most important functions in any serious financial institution.
“It is the independent conscience of the organisation. It asks the hard questions before failure makes them public. It sees patterns others miss. It protects the institution from blind spots, complacency, and avoidable loss.”
Alawuba reiterated that the AI era demands a new level of urgency, stating that the sector is entering a world where decisions can be made in milliseconds, where algorithms can approve, decline, flag, recommend, or exclude, where cyber threats can be automated or robotised, where fraud can be scaled, where deepfakes can compromise identity, where data can become both a strategic asset and a major liability, and where model errors can create regulatory, reputational, and financial damage before anyone notices.
“In this new world, traditional audit approaches, however useful, will not be sufficient. Sampling alone will not be enough. Periodic review alone will not be enough. Manual controls alone will not be enough. Post-event assurance alone will not be enough,” he said.
Alawuba maintained that the internal audit function of the future must be predictive, technology-enabled, data-driven, continuous, independent, and courageous.
He, however, called for audit executives and their teams to deepen their understanding of AI, machine learning, data governance, cyber risk, model risk, cloud architecture, digital identity, automation, third-party technology risk, and ethical AI.
“This does not mean every auditor must become a data scientist. But it does mean every audit function must have enough competence to challenge the business, question assumptions, interrogate models, understand data flows, and assess whether AI-enabled decisions are fair, explainable, secure, and properly governed,” he stated.
He warned that as banks adopt AI at a greater speed, there will be pressure to celebrate innovation before fully understanding its risks, adding that internal audit must remain independent, objective, and firm.
Alawuba stressed that innovation is desirable, but unsafe innovation is a liability. “Speed is valuable, but speed without control is exposure. Digital transformation is essential, but transformation without governance can become institutional vulnerability. The role of audit is not to slow down progress. The role of audit is to make progress sustainable.”
Earlier in her welcome address, the Chairman of ACAEBIN, Mrs Aina Amah, commended UBA for hosting the event. She said that the QGM continues to provide a valuable platform for knowledge sharing, peer engagement, professional development, and collective reflection on emerging risks and opportunities shaping the profession.
“It is always a privilege to assemble as a community of professionals dedicated to strengthening governance, risk management, internal controls, and organisational resilience within Nigeria’s banking industry. Our Quarterly General Meetings continue to provide a valuable platform for knowledge sharing, peer engagement, professional development, and collective reflection on emerging risks and opportunities shaping our profession,” she said.
Amah added that the association has remained focused on strengthening the capacity of its members and enhancing the relevance of the internal audit function in an increasingly complex operating environment.
She said that the association has continued to deliver technical learning programmes through its training academy, deepen stakeholder engagement, strengthen collaborations with regulators and relevant law enforcement agencies, and expand thought leadership through its publications and knowledge-sharing platforms.
Speaking further, she pointed out that the theme is timely and strategic, as artificial intelligence is transforming banking operations, risk management, fraud detection, customer engagement, and decision-making.
“While it presents significant opportunities, it also introduces new risks relating to governance, ethics, cybersecurity, data quality, and model reliability. As internal auditors, we must evolve alongside these developments by acquiring new skills, embracing innovation, and providing the assurance and insights necessary to support responsible adoption of AI across our institutions,” she said.
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