Skye Bank Defies FG’s Order, Sacks 175 Workers
Despite a directive by the Federal Government restraining financial institutions from further retrenchment of staff, Sky Bank on Monday relieved not less than 175 members of its workforce of their duties.
Last week, Diamond Bank Plc retrenched over 200 members of its workforce, while Ecobank Nigeria sacked over 1,040 of its employees.
In a swift reaction, minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, while citing petitions and complaints, ordered the banks to suspend retrenchment pending a stakeholders meeting on July 2.
According to him, any action taken in that regard would be seen as illegal as a meeting on the way forward would be held on July 2.
“Following spate of petitions and complaints from stakeholders in the banking, insurance and financial institutions, I hereby direct the suspension of the on-going retrenchment pending the outcome of the conciliatory meetings in the industry.
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“In this wise, all the retrenchments and redundancies done in the last four months and all proposed ones should be put on hold pending the outcome of the proposed stakeholders’ summit for the banking, insurance and financial institutions’ employers and employees, slated for July 2,” Ngige has said in a statement late Friday.
But Sky Bank, on the very next working day after the directive, sacked 175 workers, stating that it was only those that failed the 2015 appraisal exercise that were affected.
A statement from the Timothy Oguntayo-led bank read in part: “The staff disengagement exercise is coming a year after the bank’s successful integration with the erstwhile Mainstreet Bank, which it acquired in October 2014; the integration exercise described by analysts as a landmark in Nigeria’s banking industry has significantly improved Skye Bank’s ICT capacity and helped strengthen the bank’s service delivery.
“The bank extended its appreciation to the affected staff for serving the bank, describing them as members of the family who will always be accorded deserving respect in their future dealings with the bank.”
