business on Monday following easing relaxation in the state after
several weeks of COVID-19 lockdown have suffered untold hardship.
Our reporter who visited some of banks in Awka, the state capital and
environs reported that there were no social distancing, and most of the
customers could not gain access into the banking halls to transact
businesses.
Most of them who were stranded and frustrated for hours expressing
worries.
Some of them queued outside the banks’ gates to wait for their turns
trying to gain access into the banking halls, while some sitting in the
canopies provided for them in the premises to cool off could not adduce
the reasons for such ill treatments.
The bank officials as well as the security men at the entrance gates and
busy trying to ensure orderliness by the customers could not provide
immediate answers.
Mr Clement Uche, one of the frustrated customers said he was as early as
8:15 am at the Access Bank PLC at Nnamdi Azikiwe Avenue, Awka and has
waited for three and half hours at the entrance gate of the bank without
success.
The retiree with six children and bread winner of the family said he had
made several efforts to gain access into the banking halls but was
frustrated and did not know what to do again.
He said he had no other means of withdrawing money from the bank except
through his saving account cheque.
Madan Alice Okafor, a garri seller who was in another bank said she
cannot make purchases because she was owing many of her creditors who
sold goods to her before and during the lockdown.
“I was happy when the state government announced the re-opening of
markets, what will I do now, I have been here for hours and could the
little money I have in my bank,” she said.
The story was the same in other banks visited.
Meanwhile, the Management of Access Bank Plc has finally broken its
silence on the leaked video by the bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief
Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, in which he disclosed that the
financial institution would soon embark on a mass sack of workers as
well as pay cut and branch closures as part of efforts to survive in the
post-Coronavirus era.
Access Bank in a statement released over the weekend by the Corporate
Communications Department justified the decision, insisting that those
penciled don for sack are “outsourced staff such as cleaners,
messengers, dispatch riders, note counters, drivers etc.
However, mass sacking in banks have been averted by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) which had directed that
no bank worker, whether permanent or temporary, will be sacked due to
the economic slump occasioned by the current coronavirus pandemic, it
was learnt yesterday.
The assurance came from the Central Bank of Nigeria |(CBN) and the
Bankers ‘ Committee after their meeting.
This came amid earlier warning by the Federal Government to employers
against sacking workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Committee’s decision followed a “Special Meeting,” held on Saturday,
which was taken to “help minimise and mitigate the negative impact of
the COVID19 pandemic on families and livelihoods.”
Specifically, the Bankers’ Committee, an umbrella body of CBN officials
and managing directors of deposit money banks (DMBs), had warned that
“no bank in Nigeria shall retrench or lay-off any staff of any cadre
(including full-time and part-time).”
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had on May Day,
said: “Employers will not be encouraged to disengage staff without
prerequisite social dialogue and clearance from the Federal Ministry of
Labour and Employment.”
Recall that amid speculations of mass sack in the banking industry, and
others sectors in the economy, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), had on
Thursday, urged the Federal Government to protect workers from “some
uncharitable employers,” who planned to make workers victims of
COVID-19.
Consequently, the Federal Government had warned employers against
sacking workers during the lockdown without prerequisite social dialogue
and clearance from the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
In agreement with the government, the Committee also stated: “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.”
In a statement yesterday, the CBN and the Bankers Committee said its
decision came after a “further review of the implications of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian banking industry.”
It added that this is even as the Committee is not unmindful of “the
issue of the operating costs of banks in view of the disruptions
emanating from the global economic difficulties,” while the CBN solicits
“the support of all in our collective effort to weather through the
economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Committee’s decision comes amid controversies over the alleged
decision to close over 300 branches of Access Bank nationwide by the
management via video conferencing in a town hall meeting with the staff.
It’s Managing Director/Chief Executive, Herbert Wigwe, was quoted to
have said the decision, which will involve mass retrenchment, was in a
bid to reduce operating costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which could
affect about 75 per cent of the staff, most of whom are outsourced and
are offering “non-essential services.”
But this was vehemently denied by the bank’s spokesperson, Abdul Imoyo,
who noted that the branches had already been closed from the onset of
the COVID-19 lockdown. He said: “This is not correct. Branches were
closed at the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown. As the structure of the
lockdown has been relaxed, the branches will be reopened in a phased
approach, and with adherence to physical distancing guidelines.
“We advised the public when we closed over 540 branches (60 left to
operate) in response to our business continuity plan for a crisis of
this nature. This was further buttressed by Lagos State and subsequently
the Federal Government’s stay at home or work from home order.”
Reacting on the Bankers’ Committee’s directive, Professor of Finance and
Capital Markets at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, and former
Commissioner for Finance Imo State, Uche Uwaleke, described this as a
welcome development.He told The Guardian: “The decision is a welcome
development in order not to create hardships for workers in that sector
considering that government’s COVID-19 mitigation measures are geared
towards protecting jobs.
“In any case, the agreement was reached with the Bankers Committee. So,
I expect that the CBN and the CEOs of banks must have worked out ways to
cushion the rising costs of bank operations and liquidity challenges
occasioned by the pandemic.
“In addition to the forbearance package already extended to Deposit
Money Banks by the apex Bank, I want to bet that the CBN’s MPC will
reduce the Cash Reserve Ratio from the current 27.5 per cent when the
members meet later this month.”
Meanwhile, the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and
Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), had earlier disclosed of plans to
write to the banks tomorrow on the issue of possible lay-offs, which has
now been overtaken by the Committee’s warning.
A former ASSBIFI President, Oyinkan Olasanoye, had told The Guardian
that while the union envisaged possible branch closures and salary cuts,
it would however resist any lay-off without negotiations.
She said: “We will write them officially on Monday on the news making
the rounds. We are still making our investigations.”We have discussed
with the Minister of Labour and NECA. We know there would be job losses
but due process must be followed. If they are closing their branches and
transferring them to other branches, we have no problem with that, but
if they are shutting down their branches and asking the workers to go,
we will not accept that.
“COVID-19 is nobody’s fault. You can’t just close now and tell people to
go home. I know that it will have implications but it shouldn’t be
immediate.