The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has stated that the apex bank’s decision to relocate departments and personnel to other branches is a direct response to the current issue of “overpopulation” at its headquarters.
Cardoso said this in an interview with Arise Television on Monday
Cardoso emphasized that this move is a normal process for a dynamic entity like a central bank, aimed at aligning the bank’s structure with its functions and objectives. The objective is to redistribute skills, ensuring a more balanced geographical spread of talent.
He stated, “I think there’s been an attempt to sensationalize what is a normal process for any vibrant entity like a central bank. Bear in mind that, as a national institution, the central bank has a presence in every state of the federation.
“A situation where a large number of technical skills are in one particular location to the detriment of others does not speak well.
“So this has been an attempt to realign that and to ensure that skills are moved from where there’s an overabundance to where there’s a great shortage of those skills. So that’s basically what that is about.
“And with respect to Lagos which you mentioned, from our perspective, it makes a lot of sense that the entities which we are attempting to regulate and need to be on top of that are based in Lagos and they hould have the right skills from the central bank right next to them so they can adequately and effectively do their jobs.”
When asked if the CBN headquarters was above its carrying capacity, Cardoso replied in affirmation, stating, “It is overpopulated. And with what we are doing right now, we are hoping that will also help in easing the issue of overpopulation, which it is.
“And quite frankly, anybody that comes to the bank and interacts on that level will see that it is. It is overpopulated. And we’ve got to ensure that we can manage potential issues that could fall out from an overpopulated environment.”
The relocated departments include Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection Department, Payment System Management Department, and Financial Policy Regulations Department.