There are strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed non-executive directors that have spent 12 years on the boards of their banks to quit by December 2010.

The decision, which, according to sources close to the Bankers‘ Committee, is in line with the code of corporate governance of 2006, is causing ripples among the directors, who think their stakes in the banks are at risk.

A top official of the CBN, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent on Friday, confirmed that directors, who fell in this category, might have to go by December, adding that the CBN was only enforcing the code of corporate governance issued in 2006 by the apex bank under Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

He said apart from the part of the code, which required that banks should have succession plans for chief executive officers; non-executive directors were also not expected to spend more than 12 years to allow young people with fresh ideas to take over the affairs of the banks.

According to him, ”The code says maximum tenure for non-executive directors of banks is three terms of four years each. It also says that banks must change auditors after a maximum of 10 years. The CBN is only reminding the banks to comply.

”This is the reason why no new circular was issued on the CBN website to that effect. The code had been there but many items on it were just not being implemented.”

He also said that Guaranty Trust Bank Plc had told four of its non-executive directors to go in line with the code and had alerted the CBN even before the apex bank reminded other banks comply.

”GTBank complied voluntarily without prompting, so why should others not do the same thing,” he said.

However, another top official of the Bank added that affected directors were not being chased away from the industry, saying, ”they could go to other banks if they so wish.”

All the banks contacted on Friday declined to comment on the issue.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Affairs, CBN, Mr. Muhammed Abdullahi, simply said, ”The true position is that the provision is contained in the code of corporate governance issued by the CBN in 2006.”

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at first glance this makes sense. . .

netotse:

at first glance this makes sense. . .

Nothing seems as it appears, When CBN starts acting like Over-Lord
or Banks and starts issuing all kinds of rules, you have to start thinking what is going on,
The is a wider picture here and its bigger than just issuing some rules for Banks,

The 3 Pillars to control a society is -

1 - Food

2-  Energy

3 - Finance

With food you control People

with energy ie oil, gas etc you control the Economy

with Finance you control every form of Transaction in a nation with ends in Domination,

Lets think deeper,  i gonna do some more research in what happening in the banking sector in Nigeria

we keep clamouring for foreign investments but on a daily basis,the sanusi led
cbn keeps churning out policy frameworks that will keep investors at bay.
policy instability is not good for investment.
what ever happened to the place of experience in board appointment.
is this banking sector not being simply over regulated by this spate of policy redesign on predictable basis?

^^^^ well said.

A policy whereby experience counts against an individual is very flawed.
it's fair to regulate a director's monopoly over bank issues but having experience count against them is not a good idea.

Good. The longer they stay, the more they steal. Let them get some rest and be consulted if need be.

Kx:

we keep clamouring for foreign investments but on a daily basis,the sanusi led
cbn keeps churning out policy frameworks that will keep investors at bay.
policy instability is not good for investment.
what ever happened to the place of experience in board appointment.
is this banking sector not being simply over regulated by this spate of policy redesign on predictable basis?

sometimes sentiment gets the better parts of our thinking, I guess Sanusi crept into the CBN disguised as Soludo on the 31 of march 2006 just to insert this code of practise

hackney:

^^^^ well said.

A policy whereby experience counts against an individual is very flawed.
it's fair to regulate a director's monopoly over bank issues but having experience count against them is not a good idea.

they can use their experience somewhere else including another bank, I think people with 12years experience should even be turfed out of the banking industry altogether, they should use their 'experience' if its worth anything to start their own business employ numerous graduates on the street lets see if they can hack it

slap1:

Good. The longer they stay, the more they steal. Let them get some rest and be consulted if need be.

^^ One knows he/she has 12 years to steal, so what stops him/her from stealing within these period? (eg: Councillors, LG Chairs, Legistlatures, Governors, Presidents, etc)

Whether a position is tenured or not people will still poke their hands into the treasury!

slap1:

Good. The longer they stay, the more they steal. Let them get some rest and be consulted if need be.

hmmmm

Dis Guy:

sometimes sentiment gets the better parts of our thinking, I guess Sanusi crept into the CBN disguised as Soludo on the 31 of march 2006 just to insert this code of practise

we all know that this policy was formulated by soludo but perhaps on a second thought,he saw the need not to implement.

it just seem there is a rush to implement some and reverse the rest completely.
this is perhaps the first time experience would be a disadvantage in corporate mgt.

Wow see brain drain. Hope the idiot knows once they quit, there will be letters flying in from foreign nations. Nigerian bankers are world class all over. This Sanusi guy doesn't know shit. They should send him off immediately. Nigerian bankers have the top quality especially the ones he is calling to quit cause they obviously didn't start when they use women to get customers. So he is calling for a disaster. And I don't think he has any right over private banks. This is madness. He can't call for people to quit their jobs. 12 years then quit?

Gunnaz007:

^^ One knows he/she has 12 years to steal, so what stops him/her from stealing within these period? (eg: Councillors, LG Chairs, Legistlatures, Governors, Presidents, etc)

Whether a position is tenured or not people will still poke their hands into the treasury!

Thats the "Nigerian Dream" right there brother.

There are a lot of things happening in Nigeria that I believe are not what they seem to be on the surface, There just may be bigger pic than the masses can see, could all this be a master plan for 'something
'

martinosi:

Nothing seems as it appears, When CBN starts acting like Over-Lord
or Banks and starts issuing all kinds of rules, you have to start thinking what is going on,
The is a wider picture here and its bigger than just issuing some rules for Banks,

The 3 Pillars to control a society is -

1 - Food

2-  Energy

3 - Finance

With food you control People

with energy ie oil, gas etc you control the Economy

with Finance you control every form of Transaction in a nation with ends in Domination,

Lets think deeper,  i gonna do some more research in what happening in the banking sector in Nigeria

I really dont figure how sacking someone with 12 years of experiance has anything to do with managing the economy, time will tell!

Sounds like another fire brigade, brain dead policy.


Nigeria; Ignoring foundational problems since 1960.

Another nail in the coffin of our commatose financial sector

I wonder why we keep talking from both sides of our mouths!

Just last year all Perm Secs who had served up to eight years were retired to make room for the younger crop of civil servants. Now the same is being implemented in the banking sector and were crying foul. Is it out of place to look forward to a new younger crop of bankers with fresh ideas taking their place?

We keep complaining about stagnation in the system but when there is action to fix the situation we start shouting for the status quo to be maintained!

WTF?

marissa:

I wonder why we keep talking from both sides of our mouths!

Just last year all Perm Secs who had served up to eight years were retired to make room for the younger crop of civil servants. Now the same is being implemented in the banking sector and were crying foul. Is it out of place to look forward to a new younger crop of bankers with fresh ideas taking their place?

We keep complaining about stagnation in the system but when there is action to fix the situation we start shouting for the status quo to be maintained!

WTF?

You don't just replace them like that. This isn't some ministry or some house of rep. Experience is really needed in this field. You have to mix them up and not just fire them like that. If you are good at what you are doing, why fix something not broken? That is a bad policy abeg!!!. Young ones should be given a chance but it doesn't mean the experienced ones should be sacked.

9jaganja:

You don't just replace them like that. This isn't some ministry or some house of rep. Experience is really needed in this field. You have to mix them up and not just fire them like that. If you are good at what you are doing, why fix something not broken? That is a bad policy abeg!!!. Young ones should be given a chance but it doesn't mean the experienced ones should be sacked.

it wont be all the directors going at once now. . .plus they're not prevented from going to other banks. Plus there's nothing stopping them from applying their experience in other sectors of the economy!

I am really alarmed at the kind of opinions people tend to propergate. What do they mean by sacking experienced individuals. Like someone said they all in the board will not go at once as not all of them will be 12Yrs when the time to exit comes! Again they are not prevented to go to other boards to be made Board members. Please we should not trivialise this issues as it was not sanusi that made the policy in 2006. Why are we now saying that it is another sanusi policy to collaples the economy and sell it to foreigners! GTB has served notice without being prompted by CBN. All those Banks that have not implemented the policy are doing it because of selfish reasons. They dont want to break the existing Carbal!

9jaganja:

You don't just replace them like that. This isn't some ministry or some house of rep. Experience is really needed in this field. You have to mix them up and not just fire them like that. If you are good at what you are doing, why fix something not broken? That is a bad policy abeg!!!. Young ones should be given a chance but it doesn't mean the experienced ones should be sacked.

Any Bank that has functioned for 12 years without a succession plan should have itself to blame! What if Mr. Experience died?!

And what do you mean this isn't some ministry or house of rep? Like we dont know what role Banks have played in perpetuating the corruption that destroyed the first two? Dont forget that corrption is a financial game. No politician or civil servant moves cash without the help of our dear   banks. In fact, 9 times out of 10 it is bankers who advise corrupt politicians and civil servants on how to discreetly handle their loot. How many times have bankers coerced civil servants for public sector fund deposits by promising the civil servant a 'cut'? Abeg dont let me digress into so on and so forth. All these crooked financial games being played by 'Ministries and house of reps' is Bankers 101! So please dont try to denigrate one against the other. They  are all different parts of the same coin!

Back to the topic: Let the Real Mccoys step up and keep the ball rolling. Did I hear somebody say 'Yes I can'?

Nigerians - what are we good in? Technology - zero, Finance - zero, civil - zero, Agric - zero etc. infact not only Nigeria but all black countries.

Good, CBN, tell them when they get to the top, they need to leave, so the young ones can grow.

very good move

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Keep on taking action!