Nigeria’s First Bank sacks 100 top officials amid financial distress

First Bank has reportedly sacked 100 of its top staff members as Nigeria continues to face financial crises under President Bola Tinubu.

Ambali Abdulkabeer • December 31, 2024

First Bank office with staff

First Bank has reportedly sacked 100 of its top staff members as Nigeria continues to face financial crises under President Bola Tinubu.

The layoffs were reported on Monday by market-monitoring platform Nairametrics, which did not immediately cite reasons for the development.

The bank did not return a request seeking comments about the firings from Peoples Gazette on Monday night.

The bank’s move represents the latest bout of job losses to hit the Nigerian banking sector in 2024, as many struggle to survive amid the volatile economic situation in the country.

The attendant consequences of Mr Tinubu’s harsh economic policies are not limited to the banking sector.

In January 2024, Shell announced its withdrawal from oil exploration in Nigeria, revealing its intention to divest its onshore subsidiary, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, to Renaissance.

Other established businesses that exited Nigeria this year included Pick n Pay, Microsoft Nigeria, Total Energies Nigeria, PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC, Kimberly-Clark Nigeria, and Diageo moved their businesses.

Sanofi pharmaceutical multinational and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc exited in 2023 after the president assumed office.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria recently said 767 companies shut down, and 335 became distressed in 2023. The association also faulted President Bola Tinubu’s introduction of the Expatriate Employment Levy.

“The manufacturing sector is already beset with multidimensional challenges,” MAN said in a statement on Wednesday. “In 2023, 335 manufacturing companies became distressed and 767 shut down.”

On Monday, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria said its members would start service shedding if nothing was done to increase tariffs.

The chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, said the Nigerian telecommunications industry was facing a critical challenge that required urgent attention.

The ALTON boss warned that operators could not continue to guarantee service availability without this review, adding that the sector might face grim consequences. He noted some consequences, including service shedding, economic fallout, and national economic disruption.

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