2,000 lose jobs at Ecobank

BONNY AMADI and COMFORT EKELEME


AN estimated 2,000 workers of Ecobank Nigeria Plc may have been sacked in the ongoing merger deal between the bank and First Bank Nigeria Plc.

The affected staff, Daily Champion reliably gathered, are mostly secretaries and office assistants and workers who have not exceeded 10 years in the bank.

A dependable source at EcoBank told Daily Champion yesterday that the affected staff were asked to re-apply after which they were subjected to an aptitude test to ascertain the capabilities of those who maybe reabsorbed in the new deal which is likely to trade under the name of First EcoBank Nigeria Plc.

According to our source, the job cut at Ecobank may have come as a prelude to the planned merger considering that Fist Bank may soon conduct similar staff right-sizing where mostly junior staff including secretaries would form the bulk of the layoffs.

Although officials of both First Bank and Ecobank declined comment on the issue, union leaders have condemned the exercise arguing that no negotiations had been called in that regard and as such, no management reserved the right to unilaterally sack its staff.

Contacted yesterday, a staff of the Brands and Communications unit at Ecobank explained that the issues at stake were beyond him to comment upon, saying "this issue of sack is news to me."

There has been media reports pointing at the fusion of First Bank and Eco bank, a move said to have since received the endorsement of major stakeholders of both institutions.

This is coming shortly after the tortuous acquisition deal involving Bank PHB and Spring Bank, a consolidation strategy which saw shareholders of the latter initially protesting arrangement.

But the case of the First Bank and Ecobank might be different as some shareholders are said to have fallen for the alliance.

A chartered stock broker with ITIS Securities Nigeria Limited, Mr. Sunny Agoh, who commented on the merger of First Bank and Ecobank said that the merger had been long awaited and expressed optimism that it would create a new standard in the industry.

"You know that the share price of Ecobank has been on technical suspension for so long. The development will rub off positively on the emerging bank that will come as a result of the merger. We really welcome the development; it is a move in the right direction."




He maintained that the new global era where size and capitalization play major roles in global competitiveness, merger of First Bank with EcoBank would place the bank at a level that it is able to globally as well as undertake bigger ticket transactions across the globe.

"There is no doubt that the merger will benefit the banks, the country, the stakeholders and the shareholders of the two banks that will soon become one bank by the time they two parties endorse the deal."

Leadership of the Association of Senior staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBITI) as condemned the proposed sacking of 2000 workers of EcoBank as part of the merger arrangement between First Bank Nigeria Plc and later which would metamorphose to First EcoBank.

The General Secretary of ASSBITI, an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Obukese Orere said in a telephone interview with Daily Champion said severance of over 2000 workers of EcoBank was unacceptable to labour promising that the matter would be taken up at the "appropriate’ levels.

He said ‘the Central Bank of Nigeria (IBN) has repeatedly assured that it had put enough measures in place to protect the banks and prevent bank distress.

"There is no way the CBN can say that it is protecting the banks without protecting the workers most of whom are dehumanized by most banks.




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