The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported that it granted loans totaling N40.67 billion to its staff members by December 2022, as indicated in its audited financial statement for the same year.
This marked a significant surge of 133.07 percent compared to the previous year’s N17.43 billion.
However, the CBN did not disclose specific details regarding the number of staff members who benefited from these loans.
The bank’s official website revealed information about its current staff strength, noting that the workforce had evolved over the years.
Cbn said, “From a bank-wide staff strength of 10,000 staff, excluding the over 2,000 casuals in the HQ and branches as at 1999, the bank operates with a substantially reduced staff strength of and (sic) 4,914 by December 2005, further down from 6,119 as at December 2004. It should be noted further that 79 percent of current staff are now professionals.”
Despite the high amount of loans issued, the CBN allocated N155.63 billion for staff allowances in 2022. These allowances encompassed various categories, including furniture, housing, leave, transport, productivity allowances, and other disbursements to employees during the period.
Surprisingly, this figure exceeded the bank’s recorded profit of N65.63 billion during the same period, and it marked a 37.2 percent increase from the N113.35 billion spent on staff allowances in 2021.
Over a span of seven years, the CBN’s personnel costs amounted to N1.2 trillion, while the net income stood at N520.04 billion.
The bank’s audited financial accounts for the period from 2016 to 2022 demonstrated a fluctuation in its profit, showing declines between 2016 and 2018, followed by a recovery. Throughout this period, staff emoluments consistently increased by 119 percent.
In 2016 and 2017, the CBN reported profits of N124.47 billion and N107.39 billion, respectively, which then decreased to N43.77 billion in 2018. Subsequent years saw further declines before a rebound, reaching N75.12 billion in 2021, and finally, surging to N103.85 billion by the end of 2022.
During the same seven-year timeframe, staff emoluments experienced continuous growth. Expenditures on personnel expenses started at N121.23 billion in 2016 and increased yearly to N265.87 billion in 2022.
Furthermore, the audited financial results, endorsed by the suspended governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele, and audited by Ernst & Young and KPMG, revealed an increase in credit loss expense from N498.2 billion in 2021 to N875.2 billion in 2022 for the banking regulator.
