
He also said a sizeable number of Muslims had no confidence in the existing system, saying this was an effective financial exclusion.
He added that the maintenance of public trust and confidence was essential to the soundness and stability of the financial system.
According to him, Islamic banking was necessary to fast-track financial services and infrastructure financing in the country.
Umar spoke on Wednesday in Ilorin at a seminar on the "Non-interest (Islamic) banking in Nigeria: Opportunities and challenges".
He said Islamic banking would integrate many Muslims into the banking and financial services.
The seminar was jointly organised by Al-Barka Trust Fund and Department of Islamic Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin.
Umar said, "Financial inclusion will bring a lot of benefit to the economy. Financial inclusion is a constitutional right of every citizen. Non-interest banking is set to achieve financial inclusion. Islamic banking was introduced by secular states to achieve this goal; it is set to achieve it in Nigeria. Other forms of non-interest banking have the same potential if introduced along the lines of introducing Islamic banking."
The Business Manager, Diamond Bank, Regional headquarters, Kano, Mr. Muhammad Shuaib, who also spoke at the lecture, said there was lack of adequate personnel to handle Islamic banking in the country, adding that more personnel should be trained to make the operation of the Islamic banking by Nigerians operational and effective.
Posted: at | |