Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the 1,000 staff who left the bank were not forced to leave.

Cardoso spoke on Friday at the resumed house of representatives investigative hearing on the disengagement of the 1,000 workers by CBN.

On December 4, 2024, the apex bank said its early exit package (EEP) was entirely voluntary and without any negative repercussions for eligible staff.

CBN’s statement followed reports that 1,000 staff were sacked from the apex bank.

Reacting to the development, the house of representatives asked the CBN to suspend the “planned” retirement of 1,000 staff.

The lower chamber had also set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the “process and legality” of the exercise.

However, on Friday at the resumption of the investigative hearing, the CBN governor said the 1,000 members of staff were not forced to quit.

Cardoso, who was represented by Bala Bello, CBN’s deputy director of corporate service, also said the early exit programme, the restructuring and reorganisation was to optimise the bank for enhanced efficiency.

“They are basically ways and means through which the performance of an organisation is optimised by putting, ensuring that round pegs are put in right holes,” Cardoso said.

“The manpower requirement of the bank is actually met.

“I’m very happy to mention, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, that 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 organisations across the world, and even within this country, both in the private sector and the public sector, are undertaking similar exercises. So nobody has been asked to leave. With a lot of humility, I will tell you that this same program that is taking place is not at the instance of the bank.”

‘CBN FACED WITH SEVERAL CHALLENGES, INCLUDING LACK OF CAREER GROWTH’

Cardoso said CBN had been faced with several challenges.

“In the past, you have had cases of stagnation and lack of career progression. I mean, in an organisation, 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 a quasi-organisation, inverted pyramid,” he said.

“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 has happened 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 organisation. 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 exit, 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 period that similar exercise has taken place, it’s only people within a certain cadre, within the director cadre. The deputy director and 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 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 their own bank. Those who want to take it took it, and those who don’t want to take it are still in the bank.”

Usman Kumo, chairman of the ad-hoc committee, said the investigation will be fair to all the parties involved.

Karl Toriola, chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, says telecommunication companies (telcos) in the country want a 100 percent increase in tariffs.

On April 25, 2024, telcos said their services were overdue for price increments as they have not raised rates in the last 11 years.

Speaking on the business segment of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Toriola said the hike is necessary to address the escalating operational costs caused by inflation, and naira devaluation.

“We at MTN believe we need tariff adjustment of about 100 percent, I think the industry is pretty much aligned because we are all experiencing the same headwinds,” the CEO said.

“Now, the government is very sensitive to squeeze consumers’ wallets with the pressures that have come from inflation and currency devaluation on consumers.

“So, I am not sure they will give us 100 percent, but I am optimistic they will give us something substantial and maybe progressively over the course of the year we can have smaller adjustments that will help us to get back to where we need to be.”

He pointed out that while sectors like aviation and power have adjusted their tariffs to cope with rising costs, the telecommunications industry has yet to do so.

According to Toriola, global telecommunications industry statistics indicate Nigeria likely has the second or third lowest tariffs worldwide for both data and voice services.

‘TARIFF ADJUSTMENT CRITICAL TO MAINTAIN QUALITY SERVICE’

The proposed tariff adjustment, Toriola said, would not only ensure the sustainability of the telecoms industry but also enable companies to maintain and improve the quality of their services.

“What the tariff allows us to do is to continue to invest, continue to build capacity, build resilience, put in additional generators, authentic power supply system to give you stable and high-quality networks,” he said.

“So, it addresses sustainability and also enables the regulators to hold the big stick on the issue of quality of service and allows us consequently to invest in giving the quality of service Nigerians deserve.”

Toriola described 2024 as a “torrid year” for Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, citing the impacts of soaring inflation and the government’s devaluation of the naira.

He commended policymakers for taking steps aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Responding to concerns about potential service disruptions if the tariff increase is not approved, Toriola assured Nigerians that MTN and other network providers remain committed to keeping their networks operational.

“What I try to do is paint a realistic picture without being alarmist. The truth is that if you have any organisation that is spending 160 percent of what they earn in revenue, effectively at some point that organisation is going to shut down,” he said.

“So we are always going to act responsibly. We will use all our resources. We are keeping our networks up. We are not shutting down our networks at this point in time and we will continue to do so.”

The National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) says rising operational costs and high interest rates are toxic to the performance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Speaking in an interview with NAN on Thursday, John Karunwi, Oyo state chairman of NASME, attributed the poor performance of SMEs in 2024 to low purchasing power and the high cost of doing business.

He expressed optimism that 2025 would usher in more impactful government policies to alleviate the challenges small businesses face.

Karunwi acknowledged the government’s efforts to improve the economy in 2024 but said the results are yet to be visible.

The NASME chairman said many interventions, such as the Bank of Industry’s (BoI) single-digit loans, have not reached a significant portion of small businesses.

“The impact of the high monetary policy rate leading to high cost of funds along with outrageously high operation costs resulting from high cost of raw materials, high cost of energy, high logistics, and so on are toxic to sector performance,” Karunwi said.

“Also, regulatory bodies are still making the cost of doing business high.

“The low purchasing power of Nigerians also affects sales performance.

“In summary, the overall performance of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sub-sector did not improve significantly in 2024.”

Karunwi asked the government to implement policies that would create a better business environment, reduce operational costs, and improve access to energy and raw materials.

“We look forward to the government coming up with programmes that can make impacts and bring relief to the SMEs in a short time,” he said.

“We also look forward to better business environments and policies that will have direct impacts on SMEs as well as reduce cost of doing business.

“We look for improvement in the energy sector, improved access to raw materials at the rate that would bring reduction in our production cost and make our businesses competitive.

“We look forward to economic policies that will revive comatose MSMEs.”

On October 5, 2023, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said the federal government would support local manufacturers with N75 billion in a bid to bolster the manufacturing sector.