The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive requiring its staff to declare ‘close relatives’ employed by the bank and disclose any connections to Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in the country.
The move comes in the wake of the criticism against the apex bank during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly recruiting family members of top government officials without proper advertisement of vacancies, violating the country’s federal character law.
The directive, outlined in an internal memo signed by Christian Eze, the Deputy Director of the Human Resources Department, mandated staff to submit these declarations by noon on Friday, November 10, 2023.
The memo stated that all staff members must disclose close relatives, defined as spouses, biological and adopted children, siblings, parents, and half-siblings, employed by the bank. The definition of spouses extended to include cohabiting partners and couples with children.
“Please recall Management’s restriction on the employment of close relatives of serving staff and board members,” the memo read.
It continued: “Consequently, all staff are obliged to make declarations of close relatives in the employment of the Bank.”
Following that, the bank directed all employees with close relatives who had previously worked for the bank (whether serving or retired) to fill out a form.
The directive also required staff who joined the CBN from 2014 onwards to declare any relationships with PEPs.
“For clarity, a PEP is an individual who is or has been entrusted with prominent public functions in Nigeria or Foreign countries or by an International Organization and people/entities associated with them.
“PEPs include Heads of State or Government, Political appointees to Heads of State or Government, State Governors, Senior Politicians, Legislators (Federal, State and Local Government), Local Government Chairmen, Important political party officials, Family members or close associates of PEPs, Senior Government, Judicial or Military Officials, Members of Royal Families, and Senior Executives of State-owned Corporations,” the memo explained.