Cardoso begins cleansing at CBN, eases out directors

There are indications that Olayemi Cardoso has commenced what is being seen as subtle cleansing at the apex bank with the disengagement of some of the directors.

BusinessDay understands that some of the directors who were asked to go worked under the embattled Godwin Emefiele, former CBN governor.

A source close to one of the directors who did not want to be mentioned said the termination was even an outright sack not retirement as many would expect.

The disengagement, which began last Friday has sent shivers at the apex bank as staff worry over heightened uncertainty in the system at the moment.

“What was written in their letters is termination not really retirement.

“Everyday you come in, you see something else.

“Not the best of times to be in this bank,” a young male staff told BusinessDay.

The number of directors affected is not yet known, however, sources say the disengagement is likely coming in batches.

There were earlier reports that at least eight directors at the bank would be mandated to proceed on early retirement this week.

It would be recalled that Cardoso late last year redeployed some of the directors to the FSS 2020 unit of the bank which is under the Governor’s purview but has its office located in the Maitama District – one of the high brow areas in Abuja.

The CBN had also relocated more than 1,000 staff to its Lagos office, citing need to align the bank’s structure with its functions and objectives and redistribute skills to ensure a more even geographical spread of talent.

CBN authorities had claimed that the bold move which was highly been criticized was also to decongest its head office, in compliance with building regulations, as indicated by repeated warnings from the facility manager, and the findings and recommendations of the Committee on Decongestion of the CBN Head quarters.

A memo issued to the redeployed staff at the time read, “This is to notify all staff members at the CBN Head Office that we have initiated a decongestion action plan designed to optimise the operational environment of the Bank.