By our reporter|
More than one week after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) halted lay-offs by banks, there are strong indications that Access Bank Plc. has not retracted from its planned reduction of workforce.
According to investigation by Alabingo.com the lender has gone ahead with its planned disengagement of staff in utter defiance of the apex bank’s directive. This is in addition to serious slashing of salaries across board.
The Group Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, had hinted that the bank may sack some of its members of staff as a result of the negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The health crisis which has so far affected about 34 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory had led to unprecedented drop in global crude oil prices, thereby worsening the nation’s foreign exchange quagmire.
To contain the spread of the disease, total lockdown was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari, first in Lagos State, Ogun State as well as the Federal Capital Territory and later extended to Kano State.
To complement the effort of the federal government, other state governments also announced curfew in their states.
The cumulative effect of all the restrictions led to a state of inactivity in the economy, with many businesses and households recording declining or no income.
Wigwe, while speaking during a video conference with some members of staff of the bank, said that some of the bank’s branches would not be fully operational till December as a result of the pandemic.
He noted that the implication of the closure of these branches was that the bank might not need the services of some of its essential workers.
According to him, the essential workers such as cleaners, security men, tea girls and others constituted about 75 per cent of the bank’s workforce.
Wigwe said, “If there is one thing that has come out of this while lockdown period is the fact that digital is the way forward.
“We do not need the same complementary staff to take to where we are going. It also shows that job essential services particularly outsourced staff will not necessarily be at the levels that would be required.
“We probably don’t need as many security men as required, even to the fact that we are not going to have all our branches open between now and December. We don’t need all the tea girls. We don’t need all the cleaners. We don’t need all the tellers etcetera, etcetera.”
Wigwe said he would take the lead in having largest pay cut of 40 per cent.
“I will be the first to take the hit and I’m gonna take the largest pay cut, which would be as much as 40 per cent. The rest we would have to cascade right through the institution. Everybody may have to make some adjustments of some sort.”
However, Access Bank’s decision to downsize came at a time Alabingo.com was not aware of the bank securing the approval of the CBN to proceed with the planned mass sack, implying that the apex bank could halt the exercise.
The CBN had given a stern warning to all banks that they must seek its approval if they must sack more than five staff at a time. The warning was contained in the communiqué issued at the end of Bankers Committee meeting in February.
“Banks should note and be guided by the CBN circular in respect of lay-off of staff that are more than five. This requires apex bank’s notification and approval going forward,” the communiqué stated.
Little wonder, it did not come as a surprise when on Sunday May 3, the CBN and Bankers’ Committee suspended retrenchment or lay-off of any staff of banks, whether full-time or part-time.
According to CBN Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, the decision was taken to minimise and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and livelihoods.
Mr. Okorafor maintained that to give effect to this measure, the express approval of CBN must be sought in the event that it becomes absolutely necessary to lay off any such staff.
But the next day (Monday, May 4) Access Bank denied alleged planned dismissal of about 75 per cent of its workforce and closure of over 300 branches.
The bank’s denial was contained in a statement signed by Mr Sunday Ekwochi, its Company Secretary and posted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) website.
It said the closure of a bank branch was an action that required the approval of the CBN.
According to the bank, it had not applied for nor obtained the approval of CBN for the closure of its branches as widely speculated.
“The bank has only suspended operations in some branches following the directive by the CBN.
“At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, we suspended in-branch operations at different locations as directed by the CBN and in line with business continuity plans at vulnerable spots; whilst we continued to provide services through our alternative digital platforms.
“In line with the phased re-opening of the economy effective May 4, following the Presidential directives, we will be resuming in-branch services in some of our affected branches in a programmed manner to ensure the health and safety of our employees and customers.
“This is also necessary to provide relevant contingency should there be any incident arising from the pandemic.
“We deny in its entirety the baseless and twisted speculation that the bank is sacking 75 per cent of its workforce,” the statement said.
However, investigations by Alabingo.com revealed that serious disengagements and pay cuts are ongoing at the bank’s branches nationwide, especially in Lagos.
Categories mostly affected are bank tellers, cash officers and other junior staff.
A very pathetic scenario played out at one of the Ikeja branches where two security officers who were asked to go basically refused to leave. They told the lady managing the branch that they had been there for ten years and did not know where to go.
A source at the bank told Alabingo.com that staff are basically not happy with the development. According to her, some of the people being asked to leave are already exposed to COVID-19 in the course of their job.
”Where do you expect them to go”, she asked rhetorically?
When contacted, a source at CBN who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed shock at the development, reiterating that any such move without the approval of the apex bank was an invitation for sanction.
When contacted the Head of Corporate Affairs Department at Access Bank, Mr. Abdul Imoye, denied any such lay-offs by within the bank. He referred Alabingo.com to the bank’s statement on the issue last week.
Imoye further explained that not all the bank’s branches are operational at the moment, a situation he said explains why some staff cannot be at work..
He blamed some of the developments on third party employers, adding that the bank had recently intervened to stop third party employers from laying off some staff.
However, it is suspected that the practice is being fueled by the fact that a reversal by the CBN may not be possible given that most of the affected staff are third party employees who were just asked to go without letters.
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