Workers at the Central Bank of Nigeria have expressed fear and anxiety over the current decision by the management of the apex bank to move some reasonable number of staff from Abuja to Lagos in a bid to decongest its head office in Abuja.
In a circular dated January 12, 2024, and signed by the Director of the Human Resources Department of CBN, Muhammad Abba, to all staff, it said that the decision was necessitated by the need to improve efficiency as well as to ensure an effective utilization of other bank spaces.
According to the CBN, it noted that the headquarters occupancy level of 4,233 far exceeds the initial optimal capacity of 2,700 for the head office building, and as a result was relocating about 1,533 staff from the head office to other CBN facilities within Abuja and Lagos.
This move will resultantly affect about 80 per cent of the banking supervision Department of the CBN, who will be transferred to Lagos. This according to the official memo is that the head offices of the bank’s they are to supervise are based in Lagos. Only a small number of the staff members from the apex bank’s supervision department will remain in Abuja, the memo stated.
“This is to notify all staff members at the CBN Head Office that we have initiated a decongestion action plan designed to optimize the operational environment of the bank.
“This action is necessitated by several factors, including the need to align the Bank’s structure with the functions and objectives, redistribute skills to ensure a more even geographical spread of talent and comply with building regulations, as indicated by repeated warnings from the Facility manager, and the findings and recommendations of the Committee on Decongestion of the CBN Head Office Building,” the memo read.
The new plan, however, did not go down well with most affected staff worried about the implications of such move to them and their families. They opine that the decision