Resigned, Forgotten, Broken: 60 CBN recruits trapped in two-year job offer limbo

Nearly three years after being handed employment letters by the Central Bank of Nigeria, 60 recruits from across the country remain without salaries, offices, or answers, casualties of an institutional silence that has cost them their livelihoods and, in at least one case, the lives of people they love.

The affected workers said the apex bank issued them provisional employment letters on August 28, 2023, followed by acceptance forms and instructions to resign from their previous jobs as part of the documentation process. Many of them complied fully, resigning from their former employers in anticipation of resuming at the CBN.

After completing the interview, medical screening, aptitude tests and online documentation, communication from the apex bank abruptly stopped, leaving them unemployed and uncertain about their futures. Several reminder letters were written to CBN management, including to Governor Olayemi Cardoso in September 2023, November 2024 and January 2025, but none received a response.

The toll on the recruits has been severe. The affected recruits cited loss of income for between 13 and 16 months, inability to meet basic needs such as rent, food and healthcare, inability to pay school fees, and growing emotional distress and anxiety.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Emmanuel Linus Dabo said: “Some of our colleagues are battling depression. Recently, we had to contribute N3,000 each to support some of them currently receiving medical care.” He also lamented that some who had returned from abroad to serve Nigeria were now facing worsening economic conditions.

For Benedict Ali Ojobo, a Benue State recruit, the ordeal has carried a devastating personal dimension. He missed a promotion examination at his former employer to attend documentation at CBN headquarters, and lost his father who died of shock after hearing about his son’s prolonged suffering, reportedly crying out “Oh Nigeria, oh Nigeria.” His sister, who was present when their father collapsed, later required open-heart surgery after developing post-traumatic stress and cardiac complications.

Esther Nuhu, a former Federal Mortgage Bank staff member, said she resigned after only four months in her first substantive job. “I resigned because resignation was a requirement for accepting the offer. I complied in good faith, but was never posted,” she said. Francisca Idachaba from Kogi State described the experience as “psychological limbo,” saying: “I became depressed and started experiencing anxiety. The emotional and financial impact has been very hard on me.”

Efforts to obtain official comments from the CBN were unsuccessful. Texts and calls sent to the bank’s spokesperson, Hakama Sidi-Ali, since January 24, 2026, had not been responded to at the time of filing. A CBN staff member who spoke anonymously said only: “The case is in court, so I don’t have permission to speak on it.”

Development expert Musa Abdullahi called on the Federal Government to intervene, saying: “Government should either recall them or compensate them adequately. Nigeria must stop dashing the hopes of its citizens.”

The recruits have appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu and CBN Governor Cardoso for urgent intervention, describing themselves as willing, qualified Nigerians who did everything asked of them and received nothing in return.