Anxiety as CBN sacks 50 more staff

A total of 50 staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were sacked on Monday, April 8 by the current management of the apex bank.

This brings to 117 the total number of disengagements since CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso’s appointment.

The termination of appointments affects directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, principal managers, senior managers and lower ranking staff.

The dispatch of the disengagement letters, which started on March 15, has continued every other week with palpable apprehension amongst staff of every cadre as the management has not specified any standard criteria for the decisions, insiders told our correspondent.

Since the commencement of the sacking, officials of the apex bank have refused to comment on the matter.

Attempts to get the reaction of the acting Director of Corporate Communication, Hakama Sidi Ali, was not successful as she did not pick her call or return the text messages to her line.

A senior management source, who does not have the permission to speak on the matter, told our reporter that the sacking spree will continue till the end of April.

Staff affected by the latest development said the lack of clarity or justification for the sack has made them conclude that they are victims of personal vendetta by Cardoso and the deputy governors.

The central grouse of most of the affected staff, especially those who spoke with our correspondent, is the alleged “Indiscriminate application of the manual by the current management.”

The termination letters sent to the directors and some of the affected staff, as seen by our reporter, cited “Reorganisational and human capital restructuring” as the reason for their dismissal, in line with the bank’s new strategic direction.

It was gathered that five directors have indicated their readiness to contest their termination, as according to them, no wrongdoing had been attributed to them, and they have not been implicated in any misconduct.

Several staff of the apex bank who spoke with our reporter said they are living in constant fear as they are not sure who will be affected next.

One of the staff said: “We have seen indiscriminate sacking in procurement, development finance and the medical services department. What it means is that other departments will follow soon.

“I am worried that they will come for all those that worked closely with the sacked directors. The apprehension is not good for productivity and it is also bad for the system,” he said.

Another senior staff member said: “A lot of people who received their sack letter just kept quiet and left their various offices. They feel helpless by the way the system is structured.”