Wema Bank Funds N221m Archive & Probate Registry In Lagos

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In a bid to address the deteriorating state of the Lagos High Court archives, the Lagos State Judiciary and the Justice Research Institute Ltd, a private limited liability company, partnered to create a joint venture, the Lagos Archives and Property Litigation Registry (LAPLR).

And as an organisation that is committed to the growth of the judiciary in the country, Wema Bank Plc recently supported the Lagos State Government and the Justice Research Institute Ltd with N20 million to deliver a world-class archiving service aimed at transforming record management in the Lagos State High Court.

Apart from the N20 million funding, Wema Bank also granted the LAPLR a Project Finance Facility to the tune of N201 million.

Managing Director of Wema Bank, Mr Segun Oloketuyi, while speaking at the launch of the archives at the Lagos State High Court recently, explained that the bank identified the need to have a credible source of information on land and property that are subject to litigation in Lagos State, hence the bank’s decision to support the project.

“We lent our support in two ways; Corporate Social Responsibility was part of the financing, it wasn’t just loan,” Oloketuyi said. “Even the loan was given at an extremely low interest rate and long tenor to ensure the repayment is easy. We did this as a push for the company handling this project in partnership with the Lagos judiciary, on the need to create value, an opportunity presented by this project.”

The Wema Bank MD noted that when the project was conceived and the bank was contacted for financing, “we contributed some ideas which were also brought into the picture to ensure the success of the project.”

Mr Oloketuyi who heads a bank that has become extremely active in the digital space in recent years, has always been an advocate of digitization. He expects LAPLR to embrace same.

“I believe to save space, improve security and be in tune with global best practices, the next step will be to digitalize the records. That way, anyone who needs information can access it from the comfort of their offices,” the Wema Bank MD said.