Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the central bank, has clarified that the ongoing efforts to move staff and departments to other branches are a response to the current “overpopulation” at the headquarters.
Cardoso made these comments during an Arise TV interview that our correspondent watched on Monday.
The governor said that the procedure was typical for any active organization, such as a central bank, while bemoaning the dramatic tone of the story.
He said the decision was made to reallocate skills to guarantee a more equitable geographic distribution of talent and to harmonize the bank’s organizational structure with its goals and functions.
The decision by the country’s top bank to transfer more than 1,500 employees from its headquarters to other branches has sparked outrage.
“This is to notify all staff members at the CBN Head Office that we have initiated a decongestion action plan designed to optimize the operational environment of the bank,” stated a memo previously sent to employees.
The objective of this initiative is to optimize the effective use of our office space while guaranteeing adherence to building safety regulations.
Even though the Northern Elders Forum and a few other Northern organizations had opposed the action, the current move has resulted in a decrease in the number of employees at Headquarters from 4,233 to 2,733.
The Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection, Payment System Management, and Financial Policy Regulations departments are among those that the CBN reportedly moved.
“I believe there has been an effort to sensationalize what is a typical procedure for any dynamic organization like a central bank,” Cardodo stated. Remember that every state in the federation is home to the central bank, which is a national institution.
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It does not speak well when a lot of technical expertise is concentrated in one area at the expense of other areas. This has therefore been an attempt to realign that and make sure that skills are transferred from areas of overabundance to areas of severe shortage. That is essentially the subject of that.
“And regarding Lagos, which you brought up, in our opinion, it makes perfect sense that the organizations that we are trying to oversee and control are situated there, and that they should have the necessary expertise from the central bank nearby so they can carry out their duties in an appropriate and efficient manner.”
Cardoso acknowledged that the CBN headquarters was overcrowded in response to the question of whether it was over capacity. And with the work we are currently doing, we hope that this will also contribute to alleviating the overpopulation problem, which exists.
And to be really honest, anyone who visits the bank and engages with staff there will notice that it is. There are too many people there. Additionally, we must make sure that we are able to handle any problems that may arise from an overly populated area.
