Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso on Friday revealed that the 'Early Exit Programme' was a 100 percent voluntary exercise initiated by staff of the apex bank.
Mr. Cardoso disclosed this in Abuja during the resumption of the inquiry hearing into the payment of terminal benefits of N50 billion to the 1,000 employees of the apex bank, held at the instance of the Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Usman Bello Kumo.
He argued that the “Early Exit Program and Restructuring and Reorganization are basically ways and means through which the performance of an organization is optimized by putting, ensuring that the round pegs are put in the right holes. In fact, the bank's manpower needs are met.
“The staffing load, which are the key responsibilities, the key performance indicators of the bank, versus the number of people who drive the performance of that bank, is at an optimal level, balancing human resource requirements, capital requirements . , the skills requirement as well as the IT requirement of the bank.
“You are very aware, President, that the entire world is going through a process of digitalization of its operations. And then once that's done, it creates a lot of opportunities, just as it creates a lot of layoffs.
“And there have been cases where, in the past, the request for staff to voluntarily leave the bank actually came from staff. And I think the Central Bank is not necessarily the first organization that has done this. I am very happy to mention, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, that the Central Bank's early exit program is 100 percent voluntary. It is not mandatory. No one has been asked to leave and no one has been forced to do so. It is a completely voluntary program that has been implemented.
“I think a number of organizations around the world, and even within this country, both in terms of the private sector and the public sector, are carrying out similar exercises. So no one has been asked to leave. But people who are based on popular demand, I have to be humble, with great humility, to tell them that this same program that is being implemented is not at the request of the bank itself.
“Of course, we have our own challenges and we know where we want to take the bank. That's Cardoso and his team, including myself. But this popular request actually came from the staff.”
According to him, “in the past there have been cases of stagnation and lack of professional progress. I mean, in an organization, you have a pyramid where from each level to the next, you know, the gap keeps narrowing. If not, you will have a kind of inverted pyramid, almost organized.
Not working. You reach the level where there are, for example, 30 departments in the Central Bank. You cannot have 60 directors, serving 30 departments. It's not going to work. So once those vacancies are filled, you get to a level where some people, although they are very qualified, very capable and very willing, but the vacancies are not there. And then they got to a level where they were stuck for a period of time.
“There are several cases where a similar exercise occurred at the Central Bank, which has happened several times. This is not the first time. It's not the second time. It's not the third time. It's several times. There have been cases where people at the top have requested that, look, it will take me X years to aspire to become a director of an organization. But right now there are no vacancies. And the person sitting next to me probably has eight years left. Meanwhile, I have seven.
“So there is no professional growth. And there are many opportunities. For example, among the people who have left, there are about three or four people who are going to set up a bank.
“The approach that we told them, literally, anything they want to do, if they need the support of the Central Bank, that's it. So, popular demand was at the top, people who are stuck, people who no longer have any career progression, who have reached their peak and who are willing to take other risks before reaching an age where they are afraid to take risks.
“You know, those programs are actually put in place to ensure that those people have the opportunity to get out and start other things with their lives.
“But in this particular case, by popular demand, and I came with the bank's union leader, the staff asked that in this case similar opportunities be extended to other categories of staff. In the entire system, in the entire period, in all the time that a similar exercise has taken place, they are only people within a certain cadre, within the director cadre. There are assistant directors, directors who feel they want to go start other things, and assistant directors.
“But for the first time in the bank's more than 60-year history, the early exit program is being extended to everyone who is truly willing to accept it. And this happened at the behest of the staff. So it is not mandatory, it is not mandatory, there is no coercion, there is no forced exit and there is no intimidation so that no one takes it.
“In fact, when this very thing was approved, it was approved by the bank and it was open, the amount of staff that actually came forward to accept it was even surprising. As I told you, there are other people who are even thinking about starting the bank. So, if this place gets the impression that we are laying off, no one is going to do it. It's anyone's line. Nobody did it. It is a completely voluntary exercise on the part of the bank.
“Those who want to take it, took it, and those who don't want to take it are still in the bank.”
Furthermore, the CBN helmsman maintained that the Early Exit Program and the Restructuring and Reorganization are “about optimization and ensuring that the organization, vision and mission are aligned with the incoming workforce, considering the load of personnel.”
“Workload is how many people are needed to do a particular job and how many hours have to be dedicated to it. For example, if you're going to put in 40 hours and you have like 10 people to do two jobs, well, it doesn't hurt anyone. They are Nigerians and if they are there they do no harm to anyone. But there are people who are actually voracious. They want to do more.
“These are the people who feel that if we have this opportunity, we can start all that. And it was absolutely going to be like that, and you can call me anytime, anywhere, and that's what it is. No one has been forced to leave. No one has been told to leave. No one has been forced to leave at all. It is strictly voluntary.
“If no one had taken it, we would have just closed it. But this arose as a result of popular demand. As I said, I came with a representative from the personnel unit to say it here.”
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon. Usman Kumo, who assured that the Ad-hoc Committee will be fair to all parties involved in the investigation, noted that the responsibility of the Committee is to present the report to the House.
He said: “Let me begin by saying that the House of Representatives, the Tenth National Assembly, understands that the CBN is implementing the Restructuring, Reorganization and Early Exit Programme. I do not know if the CBN governor can explain or brief this committee on the objectives of the restructuring, reorganization and early exit programme.
“And second, can you explain the Early Release Program and what you intend to achieve with it? When does it start, when will it end, and what is the connection? Between the reorganization, the restructuring and the early exit program,” asked the head of the Chamber.
After the presentation by the CBN Governor, Hon. Kumo asked: “What is the connection between this exercise, this early exit exercise, and the one you undertook between March and May, where you laid off about 300 CBN employees? Is it part of this?
Responding, Cardoso said: “The two exercises are actually different. While in the year you mention, no one was laid off or laid off. People retired with all their benefits. So that we have opportunities to revitalize ourselves and bring new blood or new perspectives to how things are done. So, at the bank's behest, people were actually retiring with all their benefits.
“What is happening, or is happening now, because it actually closes at the end of the year, which is only on Tuesday, is strictly voluntary.
“So, there are two completely different things. But if you take the two together and juxtapose them in the context of the overall strategy to rationalize the operations of the bank, to reorient the operations of the bank, to revitalize the operations of the bank, to revitalize the operations of the bank, you can take the two together as if they led to the same goal.
“While one, people retired with all their benefits. In reality, the other was absolutely voluntary,” explained the CBN helmsman.