Stronger AI governance is essential to protect trust in banking

By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

United Bank for Africa (UBA Plc) Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oliver Alawuba, urged internal auditors throughout the banking sector to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) as the industry adapts to a rapidly evolving digital environment.

He delivered this message during the 64th Quarterly General Meeting (QGM) of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), which took place in Lagos and was themed “Internal Audit Function in the AI Era.”

In his keynote, Alawuba—represented by Executive Director of Finance & Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh—stated that AI is already reshaping banking operations, including fraud detection, risk assessment, customer service, and transaction monitoring.

He noted that although technology offers substantial opportunities for efficiency and innovation, it also brings new risks that demand enhanced governance, oversight, and assurance mechanisms.

He said: “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.”

The AI era will not wait for us to be ready. It is already here. The institutions that will lead are those that act now: building capacity, strengthening controls, modernizing assurance, protecting customers, and embedding trust into every layer of digital transformation.

In her opening remarks, ACAEBIN Chairperson Mrs. Aina Amah emphasized that banks must continually review and strengthen their security perimeters, as cybercrime remains one of the largest threats to the banking industry, with criminals constantly finding new ways to bypass controls and exploit institutional vulnerabilities.

She explained that ACAEBIN QGMs continue to offer a valuable platform for knowledge sharing, peer engagement, professional development, and collective reflection on emerging risks and opportunities that shape our profession.

She added that financial institutions must go beyond conventional security measures by investing in stronger cyber‑security capabilities and engaging experts who can think like cyber criminals to identify weaknesses before they are exploited.