1,000 CBN staff left voluntarily – Cardoso

• Published On: 04 January 2025 at 18:30

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has stated that the 1,000 employees who left the bank did so voluntarily.

He made this remark on Friday during the House of Representatives' resumed investigative hearing into the CBN's disengagement of these workers.

The CBN clarified on December 4 that its early exit package was entirely voluntary and had no negative consequences for eligible employees.

This statement was issued in response to reports that 1,000 employees had been fired from the apex bank.

In response, the House of Representatives urged the central bank to halt the "planned" retirement of 1,000 employees.

The lower chamber also established an ad hoc committee to look into the "process and legality" of the exercise.

However, during the resumption of the investigative hearing on Friday, the CBN governor clarified that the 1,000 employees were not required to resign.

Cardoso, who was represented by the CBN's Deputy Director of Corporate Services, Bala Bello, also stated that the early exit program, as well as the restructuring and reorganisation, were designed to optimise the bank's efficiency.

"They are essentially methods for optimising an organization's performance by ensuring that round pegs are placed in the correct holes.

"The bank's manpower requirements have actually been met.

"I'm very happy to mention, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, that the early exit program of the central bank is 100 percent voluntary," according to Cardoso.

He added, "It's not required. Nobody has been asked or forced to leave. It is an entirely voluntary programme.

"I believe that several organisations around the world, and even within this country, both in the private and public sectors, are conducting similar exercises. So no one has been asked to leave. With great humility, I will inform you that the bank did not initiate this program."

Cardoso stated that the CBN had faced numerous challenges.

"In the past, you have experienced periods of stagnation and lack of career advancement. I mean, in an organisation, you have a pyramid where the gap between levels gets smaller as you move up. If not, you will have a quasi-organisation with an inverted pyramid.

"There have been several instances in which a similar exercise occurred at the central bank. It's not the first time. This is not the second time. It’s not the third time. It has occurred several times.

“You’ve had instances in which people at the top request that, look, it’s going to take me X number of years to actually aspire to become a director in an organisation. But right now, there’s no vacancy. And the person sitting next to me probably has eight years to go. Meanwhile, I've got seven.

He further said “So there’s no career growth. And a lot of opportunities are out there. For example, among the people that have left, there are, like, three or four people who are going to set up a bank.

“The approach that we told them, literally, anything you want to do, if you need the support of the central bank, you are done. So the popular demand then was at the top, people that are stagnated, people that don’t have any career progression any longer, they have reached their peak, and they are willing to go and take other risks before they get to an age where they become scared to take risks.

“You know, those programmes are actually put in place to ensure that those people are given an opportunity to actually exit, go and start other things with their lives.”