Central Bank directs banks to halt staff retrenchment

The bankers’ committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed all banks to halt staff retrenchment.

The news was announced in a statement signed by Isaac Okorafor, CBN Director of Corporate Communications, on Sunday, 3 May 2020.

In the statement, the committee assured bank employees that no bank in Nigeria will sack its staff, saying that would help minimise the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on families.

Read the statement below:

“A special meeting of the Bankers’ Committee was convened on May 2, 2020, to further review the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian banking industry.

“The Committee particularly deliberated on the issue of the operating costs of banks in view of the disruptions emanating from the global economic difficulties and decided as follows:

“In order to help minimize and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID19 pandemic on families and livelihoods, no bank in Nigeria shall retrench or lay-off any staff of any cadre (including full-time and part-time).

“To give effect to the above measure, the express approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria shall be required in the event that it becomes absolutely necessary to lay-off any such staff.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria solicits the support of all in our collective effort to weather through the economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.”