Relocated CBN Staff to Resume in Lagos Office February 2

By Adedapo Adesanya

The redeployed staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), estimated at 1,533 or 36.22 per cent, are set to resume in the Lagos office on Friday, February 2.

According to The Punch, a person privy with the development said the plan was still in motion, and affected staffers would be resuming this weekend.

“Yes, the plan is still on and they will resume work by February 2, which is the first week of next month,” the official was quoted as saying.

Business Post had reported earlier this year that following a circular dated January 12, 2023, the CBN planned to relocate 1,533 staff to other facilities within Abuja, Lagos, and understaffed branches to address critical challenges such as safety concerns, reduced efficiency, and potential compromise to the building’s structural integrity.

The CBN’s Director of Human Resources Department in a letter to all staff said the decision was prompted by safety concerns, increased health and accident risks, and the need to comply with building regulations.

Some of the departments that were approved for relocation by the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, include Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection Department, Payment System Management Department, and Financial Policy Regulations Department.

According to the CBN, this followed repeated warnings from the facility manager and recommendations from the Committee on Decongestion of the CBN head office building.

The apex bank said the action was necessary as it aligned with the bank’s structure with its functions and objectives and would help redistribute skills to ensure a more even geographical spread of talent.

Proponents of the move, including a former governor of the bank, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had said the relocation of some of CBN’s departments to the country’s economic hub will bring about increased productivity and decongest its head office.

However, critics including the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Mr Ali Ndume as well as some other groups like the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) had condemned the move.

Mr Ndume warned that there would be political consequences if the plan to relocate some departments of CBN as well as the corporate headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos were implemented.

He said, “Those misleading the President are not doing him any good because this is going to have some political consequences. If Tinubu were not elected president, the CBN governor would not be there. It was not Lagos votes that put Tinubu there.”

The NEF had, in a statement, expressed worry over the potential negative impact of relocating those essential departments on both the institution itself and the country as a whole.

The newspaper also reported that some of the affected staffers had started relocating to Lagos.

“Some have already gone ahead. Over 80 per cent of the Banking Supervision Department staff have been redeployed and the same for the Payment System Department,” a different source was quoted.