Departure of 1000 employees was not forced – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria has emphasised that the 1,000 employees who left in December 2024 chose to leave voluntarily, not under pressure. This clarification came during a House of Representatives investigation into the staff departures and the N50 billion severance package.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, speaking through Deputy Director of Corporate Services Bala Bello, explained that the departures were part of a voluntary Early Exit Programme that included full benefits.

“The Early Exit Programme, Restructuring and Re-organisation are basically ways and means through which the performance of an organisation is optimised by ensuring that round pegs are put in the right holes. The manpower requirement of the bank is actually met,” Bello explained.

He described how modern banking is becoming more digital, which creates both opportunities and redundancies. “You are very much aware that the entire world is going through a process of digitising its operations. And then once that is done, a lot of opportunities are created, just like a lot of redundancies are also equally created.”

Bello emphasised the voluntary nature of the programme: “I’m very happy to mention that the early exit program of the CBN is 100 per cent voluntary. It’s not mandatory. Nobody has been asked to leave, and nobody has been forced to leave. It’s a completely voluntary programme that has been put in place.”

The deputy director also explained how career stagnation influenced the programme. “In an organisation, you’ve got a pyramid where from each level to the next level, the gap keeps narrowing. If not, you are going to have a quasi-organisation, an inverted pyramid,” he said. “You cannot have 60 directors manning 30 departments. It’s not going to work.”

The House Committee Chairman, Bello Kumo, explained that their job was to investigate and report on the programme’s objectives, timeline, and implementation. He specifically asked about “the objectives of the Restructuring, Reorganising and Early Exit Programme… When it starts, when it will end, and what is the connection?”