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Sack of 15,000 workers unsettles bank chiefs

Sack of 15,000 workers unsettles bank chiefs By Emma Chukwuanukwu, Assistant News Editor

# We only approved action for Intercontinental Bank - CBN

Buffeted by labour unions, disowned by the Central Bank of Nigeria, chided by the Federal Government of Nigeria, top officials of Nigerian banks who initiated the wave of mass disengagement of over 15,000 workers are now at crossroads about what to do next even as a majority of them are still releasing names of more staff who have lost their jobs.

Sunday Independent checks at the weekend revealed that the bank chiefs ran into troubled waters when it became clear that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, would not support their decision to offload their workforce even when they claim their actions were based on directives from the apex bank.

One of the bank officials who spoke with Sunday Independent but craved anonymity, said the management of the banks took what they believed were painful but necessary decisions to reduce overhead costs of running the troubled banks if the banks must recover in the shortest possible time.

"The CBN knew the state of the banks before it decided not only to fire the former managing directors and their boards but also to prosecute them in court. The CBN appointed the current boards and management of the troubled banks and gave them instructions to turn around the fortunes of the ailing banks. Now that we have begun to implement strategies to revive the ailing banks, everybody including the CBN, is saying we should not have taken those steps. If both the Federal Government and the CBN are saying we should not sack workers, they should come out clearly and tell us what to do," the source said.

On the threat from labour unions in the banking sector to picket banks over the mass retrenchment of bank workers, the official said the bank workers themselves are aware of the precarious situations in the ailing banks.

"The labour union members also work in the banks and they know the statistics and how bad the situation has degenerated. They are not saying we should not disengage workers but that we should follow the laws as contained in the labour acts. The minister of labour has said we should discuss with them and we will do that. But the fact of the matter is that we have to take the right steps to revive the banks and staff rationalization is necessarily one of those steps," he said.

The Federal Government, through the minister for labour and productivity, Adetokunbo Ademola, has kicked against the mass sack of workers in the ailing banks, arguing that the action is not a solution to the issues in the banks, The minister also aligned himself with the position of the labour unions that the action contravenes labour laws.

But the bank chiefs insisted that the CBN instructed them to take those steps in a circular where they were asked to reduce their workforce by 30% after the injection of N620 billion bailout funds to them.

But Deputy Central Bank Governor, Sule Labaran, denied the report that the Apex bank directed the management of the banks to lay off part of their workers, insisting that only Intercontinental Bank was asked to rationalize its workforce because of its peculiar case.

He noted that most of the banks including Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank and two others were running at loss, adding that 50 percent of their funds were used as operational costs.

His words: "we never instructed the banks to lay off staff when we injected money into the banks. What we did was to advise them to stabilize and meet the requirements expected of them."

Regions : Africa

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