Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has stated that he supports the central bank’s intentions to relocate several of its divisions and units from Abuja to Lagos.
Sanusi stated that the CBN and its current governor, Olayemi Cardoso, should continue forward with the policy implementation despite criticism to the contrary from some quarters.
Anaedoonline.ng notes that the country’s response to the CBN’s recent revelation of plans to relocate several of its divisions to Lagos has been conflicted, with some northern players publicly expressing hostility against the proposal.
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Sanusi, however, responded by saying that those opposed to the proposal are just engaging in dishonest politics. He continued, saying he intended to implement the same policy but didn’t stay long in office as the CBN Gobernor to realize his plans.
The former governor of CBN, who addressed the issue through a statement, stated that northern politicians raising the subject had to be disregarded.
According to him: “Moving certain functions to the Lagos office ( which is bigger than the Abuja head office) is an eminently sensible move.”
“In my mind what I would have done was to move FSS and most of Operations to Lagos such that the two Deputy Governors would be largely operating out of Lagos or, even if they were more in Abuja , the bulk of their operational staff would be in Lagos.
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“Economic policy, Corporate services and all the departments reporting to the Governor directly such as Strategy, Audit, Risk management, Governors’ office etc would remain in Abuja.
“It makes eminent strategic sense. And I would have done this if I had stayed.”
Sanusi stated that the resistance from the north should be disregarded since individuals who oppose the relocation are not acting out of patriotism but rather out of self-interest.
He urged Cardoso to make sure the correct thing is done rather than give in to political pressure.
Sanusi added: “Moving staff to the Lagos office to streamline operations and make them more effective and reduce cost is a normal prerogative of management.
“The problem we have now is that many employees are children of politically exposed persons and their Abuja life and businesses are more important than the CBN work.
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“The CBN is just an address for them and if they have to choose between their spoilt Abuja life and the job, they would gladly leave the CBN.
“All the more reason for the Governor to put his foot down and get rid of those elements they are dangerous for the bank’s future
“The question of locating functions is a STRATEGIC and not tactical one. A proper analysis should be done to identify which roles are best suited to Lagos and which to Abuja. Once the logic is clear the people then follow. Non communication of strategic intent opens the door to mischievous misrepresentation and arbitrariness.
“I don’t like the idea of arguing that the office structure can not handle the staff numbers. I am sure Julius Berger would refute that if they wanted to engage.”
However, the former Emir of Kano argued that some employees might be allowed to remain in Abuja if management believed they had good cause.
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He suggested that: “Individual situations should be considered. As much as possible we should be empathetic. For example young mothers with kids in school who do not need to move can be prioritised to stay in Abuja or those with medical conditions etc.”
“My advice to the Governor is to go ahead with his policy. Once the CBN starts bending to political pressure on one thing it will continue doing so.
“Northern politicians will shout that this is moving from Abuja to Lagos. Abuja is a federal capital not a northern issue. So long as this is a principled decision the noise should be ignored.
“When I was about to license Jaiz Bank, there was a lot of religious noise from CAN, etc. Even enlightened people like Okey Emelamah were going to sue me to court on religious grounds. I ignored it and licenced the bank. Nothing happened.
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“A Christian Governor after me licenced at least two more non-interest banks. No one is even noticing again.
“Ethnic and religious bigots will always shout. The CBN should rise above it and just do what needs to be done. It is a very unpopular and difficult job and the Governor needs to be tough.”
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