E-Financial
CBN did not Force 1000 Workers to Resign- Cardoso
Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday disclosed that the ‘Early Exit Program’ was 100 percent voluntary exercise initiated by the staff of the apex bank.
Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
Mr. Cardoso disclosed this in Abuja during the resumed investigative hearing into the payment of N50 billion terminal benefits to the 1,000 staff of the apex Bank, held at the instance of the Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Usman Bello Kumo.
The CBN governor who was represented by Mr. Bala Bello, deputy director, Corporate Service, CBN, argued that “nobody has been asked to leave, and nobody has been forced to leave. It’s a completely voluntary programme that has been put in place.”
He maintained that the “Early Exit Program and the Restructuring as well as Reorganization are basically ways and means through which the performance of an organization is optimized by putting, ensuring that round pegs are put in right holes. The manpower requirement of the bank is actually met.
“The manloading, which is the key responsibilities, key performance indicators of the bank, vis-a-vis the number of people driving the performance of that bank, is at a level where it’s optimum, balancing the human resource requirement, the capital requirement, the skill requirement, as well as the IT requirement of the bank.
“You are very much aware, Chairman, the entire world is going through a process of digitizing its operations. And then once that is done, a lot of opportunities are created, just like a lot of redundancies are also equally created.
“And you have had instances in which, in the past, the request for staff to actually exit the bank voluntarily actually emanated on the part of the staff. And I believe Central Bank is not necessarily the first organization to have done that. I’m very happy to mention, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the early exit program of the Central Bank is 100 percent voluntary. It’s not mandatory. Nobody has been asked to leave, and nobody has been forced to leave. It’s a completely voluntary programme that has been put in place.
“I believe several organizations across the world, and even within this country, both in terms of the private sector and the public sector, are undertaking similar exercises. So nobody has been asked to leave. But people who are based on popular demand, I have to be humble, with a lot of humility, to tell you that this same program that is taking place is not at the instance of the bank itself.
“Of course, we have our own challenges, and we know where we want to take the bank to. That’s Cardoso and his team, myself included. But this popular request actually came from the staff.”
According to him, “In the past, you have had instances in which cases of stagnation and lack of career progression appears. I mean, in an organization, you’ve got a pyramid where from each level to the next level, you know, the gap keeps narrowing. If not, you are going to have like a quasi-organization, inverted pyramid.
It doesn’t work. It gets to the level where you have, for example, 30 departments in the Central Bank. You cannot have 60 directors, manning 30 departments. It’s not going to work. So, once those vacancies are filled, it gets to a level where some people, even though they are very qualified, they are very able, and they are very willing, but the vacancies are not there. And then they got to a level where they are stagnated for a period of time.
“There are several instances in which similar exercise took place in 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. You’ve had instances in which people at the top request that, look, it’s going to take me X number of years to actually aspire to become a director in an organization. But right now, there’s no vacancy. And the person sitting next to me probably has eight years to go. Meanwhile, I have seven.
“So there’s no career growth. And a lot of opportunities are out there. For example, among the people that have left, there are, like, three or four people who are going to set up a bank.
“The approach that we told them, literally, anything you want to do, if you need the support of the Central Bank, you are done. So the popular demand then was at the top, people that are stagnated, people that don’t have any career progression any longer, they have reached their peak, and they are willing to go and take other risks before they get to an age where they become scared to take risks.
“You know, those programmes are actually put in place to ensure that those people are given an opportunity to actually, you know, exit to go and start other things with their lives.
“But in this particular case, based on popular request, and I came with the Union Leader of the bank, the staff requested that in this case, similar opportunity should be extended to other categories of staff. In the entire system, in the entire period, in the entire time that similar exercise has taken place, it’s only people within a certain cadre, within the director cadre. The deputy director, directors who feel they want to go and start some other things, and assistant directors are given.
“But for the first time in the over 60 years history of the bank, the early exit program is extended to everybody who is actually willing to take it. And this came at the instance of the staff. So it’s not mandatory, it’s not compulsory, there’s no coercion, there’s no forceful exit, and there’s no intimidation for anybody to take it.
“In fact, when this same thing has been, you know, approved, was approved by the bank, and it was open, the number of staff that actually came forward to take it was even very amazing. Like I told you, there are some other people that are even thinking of going to start with the bank. So if the impression comes to this place that we are laying off, nobody is going to do this. It’s the line of anybody. Nobody did it. It’s an entirely 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.”
Speaking further, the CBN helmsman maintained that the Early Exit Program and the Restructuring as well as Reorganization are “all about optimization and making sure that the organization, vision, and mission is aligned with the manpower you come in, considering the manloading.
“The manloading is how many people does it take to do a particular job, and how many hours do you need to put. For example, if you are going to spend 40 hours, and you have like 10 people to do two jobs, well, it doesn’t hurt anybody. These are Nigerians, if they are there, they don’t hurt anybody. 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 go and start all that. And it was absolutely going to, and you can call me anytime, anywhere, and that’s what it is. Nobody has been forced to leave. Nobody has been dictated to leave. Nobody has been stamped into leaving at all. It’s strictly voluntary.
“If nobody had taken it, we would have just closed it. But this came as a result of popular demand. Like I said, I came with a representative from the staff unit to actually say it here.”
Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon. Usman Kumo who assured that the Ad-hoc Committee will be fair to all the parties involved in the investigation, noted that the Committee’s responsibility is to submit the report to the House.
He said: “Let me start by saying that the House of Representatives, the 10th National Assembly, understand that CBN is implementing the Restructuring, Reorganizing and the Early Exit Program. I don’t know whether the CBN Governor can explain or brief this committee the objectives of the Restructuring, Reorganizing and the Early Exit Program to this committee.
“And two, can you explain the Early Exit Program and what you intend to achieve with it? When it starts, when it will end, and what is the connection? Between the Reorganization, Restructuring and the Early Exit Programme,” the House Chief Whip inquired.
After the CBN Governor’s presentation, Hon. Kumo asked: “What is the connection between this exercise, this early exit exercise, and the one you embarked on between March and May, where you lay off about 300 staff from the CBN? Is it part of this?”
While responding, Mr. Cardoso said: “The two exercises are actually different. Whereas the exercise that you are mentioning, people were, nobody was actually terminated or dismissed. People were retired with their full benefits. For us to have opportunities to reinvigorate and bring in new blood or new perspectives to how things are done. So that was, at the instance of the bank, people were actually retired with their full benefits.
“This one that is taking place, or is taking place now, because it actually closes by the end of the year, which is just on Tuesday, is strictly voluntary.
“So, there are two different things altogether. But if you take the two together, and you juxtapose it within the context of the overall strategy to streamline the operations of the bank, to refocus the operation of the bank, to reinvigorate the operation of the bank, to re-energize the operation of the bank, you can take the two together as leading to the same objective.
“Whereas one, people were retired with their full benefits. The other was actually absolutely voluntary,” the CBN helmsman explained.
Galaxy Backbone (GBB) has engaged banks, fintech firms and other technology stakeholders in fresh discussions on strengthening digital trust, regulatory compliance and secure digital infrastructure in Nigeria’s financial sector.
The engagement took place during the organisation’s second-quarter webinar, which brought together Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and industry leaders to examine strategies for building resilient digital infrastructure as financial services become increasingly technology-driven.
The webinar, themed “Building Digital Trust in Nigeria’s Financial Sector: Navigating Regulatory Compliance and Infrastructure Performance,” comes amid the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive requiring banks, fintech companies, mobile money operators and other payment service providers to store payment transaction data generated within the country on local servers.
The CBN had said the policy is aimed at strengthening regulatory oversight, improving transparency, reducing concentration risks and ensuring that critical payment data remains within Nigeria’s jurisdiction.
Opening the webinar, GBB’s Executive Director, Finance, Ibrahim Sani, said the rapid transformation of the country’s financial services industry had made trusted digital infrastructure indispensable to the delivery of secure, reliable and future-ready financial services.
He noted that Galaxy Backbone already provides digital infrastructure supporting both public and private sector organisations, including several financial institutions that rely on its secure connectivity, cloud computing and data centre services.
According to him, “Galaxy Backbone continues to provide the digital backbone that supports both public and private sector institutions. We remain well positioned to support the industry’s compliance journey by delivering resilient infrastructure that meets evolving regulatory and business requirements.”
Also speaking, the Executive Director, Digital Exploration and Technical Services, Olumbe Akinkugbe, stressed that compliance with CBN directives and other regulatory frameworks was essential to strengthening transparency, accountability, consumer confidence and the security of financial data in an increasingly digital economy.
He maintained that regulatory compliance had become a key pillar in safeguarding Nigeria’s financial ecosystem as digital transactions continue to expand.
The webinar also featured a presentation by GBB’s Head of Automation and Integration, Thomas Oghenebhumhe, who showcased the organisation’s sovereign cloud platform and highlighted the importance of secure cloud adoption across the financial services industry.
He explained that resilient cloud infrastructure enables financial institutions to innovate more rapidly, improve operational efficiency, safeguard sensitive information and comply with evolving regulatory standards.
His presentation was followed by an interactive session during which participants sought practical insights on cloud migration, data sovereignty and regulatory compliance.
Head of Data Centre Operations, Samuel Olusola Oyeleke, later highlighted Galaxy Backbone’s globally certified Tier III and Tier IV data centre infrastructure, describing it as resilient enough to guarantee uninterrupted digital services, disaster recovery and business continuity for mission-critical financial operations.
Closing the webinar, Executive Director, Customer Centricity and Marketing, Olusegun Olulade, said building digital trust required sustained collaboration among regulators, technology providers and financial institutions.
“As Nigeria’s financial ecosystem becomes increasingly digital, organisations must invest in infrastructure that not only meets regulatory requirements but also guarantees resilience, security, business continuity and customer confidence,” he said.
Olulade reaffirmed Galaxy Backbone’s commitment to supporting the financial services industry with secure, resilient and globally aligned digital infrastructure that enables institutions to innovate with confidence while maintaining compliance with changing regulatory standards.
The organisation said its Uptime-certified data centres, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification, sovereign cloud platform and nationwide fibre-optic network provide trusted platforms for secure data hosting, payment security, regulatory compliance, business continuity and disaster recovery.
According to GBB, the infrastructure also supports Nigeria’s growing data sovereignty agenda by ensuring that critical financial data is securely hosted, readily accessible and remains within the country’s jurisdiction in line with regulatory expectations.
With more than two decades of delivering shared ICT infrastructure and digital services, Galaxy Backbone said it has continued to support digital transformation across both the public and private sectors through secure connectivity, cloud services, cybersecurity, managed ICT services and enterprise-grade data centre solutions.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has announced that its Group Chairman, Mr Tony O. Elumelu, will retire from the Board of Directors on Aug. 21, 2026, upon completing the 12-year tenure limit for non-executive directors prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The bank disclosed this in a statement issued following a meeting of its Board of Directors held on July 6.
According to the statement, the board accepted Elumelu’s retirement and elected Mr Emmanuel N. Nnorom, a Non-Executive Director of the bank, as his successor with effect from Aug. 21, 2026.
The board expressed appreciation to Elumelu for what it described as his visionary leadership and immense contributions to the growth and institutional development of the UBA Group.
It noted that under his leadership, UBA expanded into a leading pan-African financial institution with operations in 20 African countries and four global financial centres, serving more than 50 million customers.
The board described Elumelu’s tenure as a defining period in the bank’s history.
Nnorom, who will assume office as chairman upon Elumelu’s retirement, is a chartered accountant with more than 40 years of experience in banking, finance and auditing.
The statement said he brings extensive leadership experience and deep institutional knowledge of the bank to his new role.
Speaking on his retirement, Elumelu described serving UBA as one of the greatest privileges of his professional career.
“Serving United Bank for Africa has been one of the great privileges of my career.
“UBA has established a unique competitive position across Africa and globally, and I leave the Board with great confidence in UBA’s future.
“Emmanuel Nnorom is a leader of integrity, experience and sound judgement, and I am confident that the bank will continue to thrive under his leadership,” he said.
Responding to his appointment, Nnorom expressed gratitude to the board for the confidence reposed in him.
“I am honoured by the trust the Board has placed in me and deeply conscious of the legacy I inherit.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board, Management and our staff across all our markets to sustain UBA’s momentum and continue delivering long-term value to our shareholders, customers and stakeholders,” he said.
UBA operates in 20 African countries as well as the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates.
The bank provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services and serves more than 50 million customers globally, with a workforce of about 25,000 employees across its operations.
Zedvance Finance Limited has appointed Professor Pius ‘Deji’ Olanrewaju as Chairman of its Board of Directors, effective July 1, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Professor Pius ‘Deji’ Olanrewaju
The company disclosed this in a statement, describing the appointment as a significant step in strengthening its corporate governance structure and positioning the organisation for its next phase of growth.
According to Zedvance, the appointment reflects its commitment to building a robust governance framework capable of driving innovation, sustainable growth and long-term value creation for stakeholders.
The company said Olanrewaju brings extensive boardroom experience, leadership credentials and expertise in governance, strategy and organisational transformation to the role.
It noted that the strengthened board structure would enhance oversight and support the company’s strategic growth ambitions.
Speaking on his appointment, Olanrewaju expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in him.
“I am honoured to assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Zedvance Finance.
“The company has established a strong reputation as a trusted financial partner, leveraging innovation and technology to create meaningful impact.
“I look forward to working with the board and management to support the company’s strategic aspirations and deliver sustainable value for our stakeholders,” he said.
Olanrewaju is a legal scholar, banking expert and corporate leader with more than four decades of experience spanning banking, finance, academia and institutional governance.
He holds degrees in Law, Arts and Social Sciences, including a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), Bachelor of Laws (B.L.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Master of Science (M.Sc.), Master of Laws (LL.M.) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB), Fellow of the Institute of Capital Market Registrars (FIMA), Fellow of the Institute of Management and Administrative Technology (FCMR), and Fellow of the Enterprise Risk Management Professionals (FERP).
Olanrewaju is also a member of several professional bodies and served as the immediate past President and Chairman of the Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
During his more than 35 years of service to the institute, he held several strategic positions, including Chairman of its Capacity Building and Certification Committee.
He is currently a Professor of Banking Law at Babcock University, where he previously served as Provost and Dean of the School of Law and Security Studies.
He has authored and co-authored several academic publications and serves on the boards of a number of organisations, including Babcock University Microfinance Bank.
The company expressed confidence that his experience in strategic leadership, corporate governance and financial services oversight would support its long-term growth and institutional development.
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