Eight CBN directors close to Emefiele penciled for early retirement

At least eight directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be proceeding on early retirement because of their link to the ex-governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele.

 

According to reporting by Daily Trust, the affected directors had earlier been redeployed to an office in the Maitama District of Area of Abuja since 24th November 2023, and kept in waiting for their eventual retirement.

 

The newspaper, quoting sources within the apex bank, said some of the directors had already been served the disengagement letters since Friday, 15th March 2024. “We don’t know whether they were given early retirement or their appointments were terminated outright.”

 

 

The newspaper said the main reason for the sack of the affected officials was because they had worked very closely with the immediate past governor of the apex bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

 

Prior to this latest development, the apex bank had relocated no fewer than 150 staff of the Banking Supervision Department (BSD), which is one of the 29 departments of the bank to Lagos. The BSD is under the Financial System Stability Directorate of the CBN.

 

The relocation saga, it would be recalled, had generated heated controversy across the country, with many people of northern extraction alleging that it was an attempt to dislodge staff who are northerners from the institution.

 

But the CBN rebuffed those insinuations, insisting that it was part of a proper reorganisation of the bank, to ensure that the regular onsite examination of the 24 banks in the country were diligently carried out, since most of those national and regional banks are headquartered in Lagos. It also adduced as part of the reason for the relocation, the desire to de-congest the corporate headquarters of the bank.

 

It was widely alleged that many politicians had abused their privileges during the Buhari Administration to secure appointments for their children and relations in the CBN, resulting in redundancies, with many staff loitering in the headquarters of the bank since they had neither office accommodation nor chairs and desks on which to work.

 

The newspaper also reported that some of the directors affected in the latest action of the current management of the CBN have threatened to challenge the decision, while others have said they will accept the sack as the CBN has become a ‘poisonous working environment.’

 

The newspaper quoted one of the affected directors as saying: “We thank God for the time we spent, and the impact that we have made. I will not challenge it. Once my letter is handed to me tomorrow (today) I will gladly take a walk. Life goes on.”

 

The report also indicated that a former Lagos Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu is being considered as the director of security.

 

The governor of the CBN, Yemi Cardoso is said to be on a mission to populate the CBN with his people while allegedly ridding the place of anyone close to Emefiele