KEY POINTS

• CBN’s Early Exit Program was 100 Percent voluntary for participants.
• Restructuring addressed career stagnation and optimized workforce performance.
• Similar programs are standard in the public and private sectors globally.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified that the 1,000 employees who left the bank in December 2024 did so voluntarily under the Early Exit Program.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, explained this during an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee in Abuja on Friday.

The hearing was meant to determine how the staff left, and the distribution of the N50 billion ($32.5 million) experience package offered to those affected.

Restructuring and career stagnation influenced decisions

Represented by Bala Bello, Deputy Director of Corporate Service at the CBN, Cardoso emphasized that the program was designed to optimize organizational performance.

Also, he reassured lawmakers that participation in the Early Exit Program was entirely voluntary.

“I’m happy to report that the early exit program of the CBN is 100 Percent voluntary. Nobody has been forced or asked to leave. It’s a program that individuals choose to participate in,” Bello said.

Moreover, Cardoso stressed that this program was a part of organizational changes aimed at resolving concerns related to career plateau.

He said that the bank had experienced some social issues including an inverted organizational pyramid for which the available number of vacant positions were few compared to the qualified employees in the bank.

“You cannot have 60 directors managing 30 departments. This results in the creation of dead-end jobs where employees of related qualifications and abilities, work for several years without any promotion,” he said.

Global practices and private sector parallels

Cardoso also noted that such restructuring activities are frequently observed today in organizations on a global basis regardless of whether they are public or private.

According to Punch, he clarified the need for such programs to maintain organization flow and to place human resources in the efforts toward its accomplishment.

“In private and public sectors globally, restructuring programs like ours are standard. They help optimize workforce performance by placing the right people in the right roles,” he added.

Committee’s role in assessing transparency

The chairman of the investigative committee, Bello Kumo, further enthused the attendees by stating that the work of the committee is to exercise governance responsibility by tracking how the CBN executes the Early Exit Program.

“Our responsibility is to gather facts and present a report to the House, ensuring that processes were fair and in the best interest of all parties involved,” Kumo stated.

Moreover, Cardoso reiterated the fact that the restructuring was imperative for sustaining a relevant and efficient formation of personnel.

To the committee, he said that payment of severance package to the participants was fair and helped to address long-held stagnated career ladders within the bank.