The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated that the 1,000 employees who chose to leave their positions in December 2024 were not compelled to do so.
On Friday in Abuja, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso made this statement at an investigative session of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee that was looking into the reasons for the staff members’ departure and the process by which the N50 billion severance payment for the impacted individuals was determined.
“The affected individuals chose to disengage through the voluntary Early Exit Programme with payment of full benefits,” Cardoso hinted.
Bala Bello, the CBN’s Deputy Director of Corporate Service, represented Cardoso. “Restructuring, reorganisation, and the Early Exit Programme are essentially strategies and tactics that maximise an organisation’s performance by making sure that round pegs are inserted in the correct holes. The bank has reached its workforce requirement.
“The CBN’s early exit programme is entirely voluntary, which I’m delighted to highlight. This is not required. However, no one has been compelled to leave or asked to leave. A programme that is entirely volunteer has been established.”
Additionally, he pointed out that the experiment was not limited to government organisations, stating, “I believe several organisations across the world and even within this country, both in terms of the private sector and the public sector, are undertaking similar exercises.
“There have been cases in the past where there was a lack of career advancement and stagnation,” Cardoso continued. An organisation has a pyramid where the gap progressively gets smaller as you move up the levels. Otherwise, an inverted pyramid will be your quasi-organisation.
“It reaches a point where the Central Bank, for instance, has 30 departments. It is not possible to have 30 departments with 60 directors. That won’t work out.
“After those positions are filled, there are still some persons who are highly qualified, capable, and willing, but the positions are filled. They then reached a point where they were temporarily unable to move further.”
Bello Kumo, the committee’s chairman, stated previously that the committee’s duty was to present the findings to the House.
