More than a year after receiving employment offers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), about 60 recruited Nigerians remain in limbo, having not been deployed or assigned duties despite completing all recruitment requirements.
The affected individuals, recruited between June and August 2023 from across Nigeria’s 36 states, said the prolonged delay has left them without income and subjected them to emotional distress, uncertainty, and severe disruption to their professional lives.
One of the recruits, Benedict Ali Ojobo, a native of Benue State, said he received his appointment letter from the apex bank on August 28, 2023, after successfully completing aptitude tests, interviews, and mandatory medical screening.
Ojobo explained that the recruitment process coincided with a major career milestone in his former employment, forcing him to make a difficult decision. According to him, he missed a promotion examination to the position of Assistant Director in Pharmaceutical Services because it clashed with the date scheduled for documentation at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
“I lost a promotion from Chief Pharmacist to Assistant Director in October 2023,” he said, adding that he had already fulfilled all conditions attached to the CBN offer.
Ojobo noted that after submitting required documentation, resigning from his previous job, opening a pension account, and providing guarantors, he has remained on standby since October 2023, awaiting training and posting.
“I complied with every instruction given, including resigning from my former employment. Unfortunately, after all that, we were never called to resume work,” he said.
The prolonged uncertainty, he added, has taken a significant toll on his mental and emotional health. “I became depressed and started experiencing anxiety and heart palpitations,” Ojobo said.
Documents reviewed show that the affected recruits formally petitioned the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in a letter dated September 20, 2024, outlining the personal and financial impact of the delay.
The letter, signed by Auta Godwin on behalf of the group, highlighted the severe consequences of the stalled deployment, including loss of income for periods ranging between 13 and 16 months, difficulty meeting basic living expenses such as rent, food, healthcare, and school fees, inability to support elderly parents, and ongoing emotional distress.
Another recruit, Francisca Idachaba from Kogi State, said she also resigned from her former job after receiving the CBN employment offer, in compliance with the bank’s requirements.
She said the recruitment process included aptitude tests, interviews, and medical screening, all of which she completed successfully. “After the offer letter, we were told to resign from our jobs and submit documentation. Since then, there has been no communication on resumption,” she said.
Idachaba described the situation as emotionally draining, noting that the financial strain has compounded the psychological burden. “I became depressed and started experiencing anxiety. The impact has been overwhelming,” she said.
Similarly, Pangdul Geoffrey-Kunda, a recruit from Plateau State, said the silence that followed the issuance of offer letters has been psychologically exhausting. “When I got the offer, my family celebrated. We believed it marked a new beginning,” he said. “What came after was silence, and that silence became very heavy.”
Another affected recruit, Esther Nuhu, a former employee of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, said she resigned from her first substantive role after just four months to meet the conditions of the CBN offer.
“I resigned in good faith because resignation was a requirement for accepting the offer. Till today, I have not been posted,” she said.
Yakubu Yarima, a UK-trained professional from Gombe State, was also said to have resigned from his previous employment after accepting the offer but has yet to be deployed, according to individuals familiar with his case.
Reacting to the situation, development expert Musa Abdullahi urged the Federal Government to intervene urgently. He said the prolonged delay has inflicted unnecessary hardship on the affected individuals and called for either immediate deployment or adequate compensation.
“Government should either recall them or compensate them properly. These are people whose hopes have been dashed without justification,” Abdullahi said.
Efforts to obtain official clarification from the Central Bank of Nigeria have so far been unsuccessful. Calls and text messages sent to the bank’s spokesperson, Hakama Sidi-Ali, since January 24, 2026, had not received a response as of the time of filing this report.
, about 60 recruited Nigerians remain in limbo, having not been deployed or assigned duties despite completing all recruitment requirements.){kind=link}