The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has allegedly issued employment offers to over 50 staff in 2023 with many resigning from their stable employment only to be left stranded nearly three years after, WikkiTimes reports.
When Emmanuel Dabo, a banker, resigned from Guaranty Trust Bank in June 2023 after 13 years of service, he believed he was stepping into a new phase of stability and public service at the CBN.
Nearly three years later, the former regional banking coordinator is now unemployed. He told WikkiTimes that he is struggling to keep his children in school, and living off the proceeds from selling personal assets as he keeps holding CBN’s employment offer letter.
Mr Dabo is one of over 50 people across the country who say they were offered employment by the CBN in 2023 after a rigorous recruitment process. He said the CBN asked them to resign from their previous jobs as a condition for onboarding, and then left waiting to resume.
“We followed every process,” Mr Dabo told WikkiTimes. “We passed the aptitude tests, oral interviews, medical screenings, and background checks. We were issued offer letters at the CBN headquarters in Abuja. And then we were told to resign from our current job.”
A recruitment process that stopped halfway
According to offer letters reviewed by WikkiTimes, the affected individuals were recruited in mid–2023 following multiple screening stages, including online aptitude tests, panel interviews, medical examinations, and physical documentation at the CBN headquarters.
The offer letters, which some of the affected individuals shared with this newspaper, required candidates who were already employed to resign and present official acceptance letters from their former employers before final onboarding and many of them complied.
Mr Dabo resigned from GTBank, where he had worked for over a decade across multiple states in the North.
Another affected individual, Yakubu Yerima Abdullahi, said he left his job at the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) because of the conditions set by his supposed new employer, the central bank. Others resigned from federal agencies, state governments, courts, and financial institutions.
“We were told onboarding would commence in November,” Mr Yerima said. “Instead, there was silence.”
From stability to survival
For Mr Yerima, the silence upended a stable life in Abuja and Kano where he used to base with his family. Unable to afford rent and basic living costs, he relocated his family to Gombe, where he now survives without a steady income.
“Every day you wake up with uncertainty,” he said. “You don’t know if you will be compensated, reinstated, or forgotten. It is mentally exhausting.”
He said the situation has forced him to question his decision to return to Nigeria after schooling abroad. “I came back believing I could contribute here,” he said. “Now I regret it.”
For another young recruit, who simply identified as Ms. Franca, the experience cut even deeper.
A computer science graduate, she said she spent her personal savings to prepare for the virtual interviews, renting a hotel room for ₦40,000 to ensure privacy and stable internet which is a requirement she said CBN recruiters emphasised.
She passed every stage and collected her offer letter in Abuja. Like others, she resigned from her private-sector job.
Months later, with no income and mounting responsibilities, her father fell ill.
“I lost my dad because we couldn’t pay his medical bills,” she said, fighting back tears. “I am the first daughter. I was responsible. But I was struggling.”
According to her, the prolonged uncertainty pushed her into depression and anxiety. “You think you’ve finally seen the light, and then everything goes dark again,” she said.
Appeals ignored, court action taken
The affected candidates say they wrote at least three formal appeal letters to the CBN between 2024 and early 2025, seeking clarification on their employment status. They said none received a response.
Eventually, according to them, human rights lawyer Femi Falana agreed to take up the case. Letters from his chambers to the CBN, the affected individuals said, also went unanswered.
The matter is now before the National Industrial Court in Abuja. While hearings are yet to commence, the claimants say the legal process has offered little immediate relief.
“We are not fighting the government,” Mr Dabo said. “We are appealing. We are Nigerians. We want to work.”
‘Rendered jobless by the same government fighting unemployment’
Several of the affected individuals told WikkiTimes that the prolonged limbo has led to eviction from rented homes, unpaid medical bills, mounting debt, and social stigma.
“When you suddenly stop working in a bank, people assume you committed fraud,” Mr Dabo said. “That alone can destroy your reputation.”
They argue that being asked to resign without a clear onboarding timeline effectively transferred all risk to them.
“The government says it is fighting unemployment,” Mr Yerima said. “But by this action, we were rendered jobless.”
in their separate interviews, the affected individuals appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso to intervene in the matter.
Efforts by WikkiTimes to obtain an official response from the CBN were unsuccessful as the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs Sidi Hakama, did not respond to multiple calls placed to her phone and WhatsApp messages sent to her number were neither acknowledged nor replied to.
In addition, a letter seeking clarification on the recruitment process and the status of the affected candidates to the Bank received no response as of the time of publication.
