Access Bank Plc on Monday, May 4th, 2020 refuted allegations that it plans to sack 75% of its workforce and also close down more than 300 branches.

The Secretary to the bank, Mr. Sunday Ekwochi, in a statement on the Nigerian Stock Exchange website, described the rumour as fake news with malicious intent and a distraction from the genuine and compassionate plan by the bank to protect its workers and help keep jobs amid the unfolding macroeconomic environment.

It noted that before a bank branch could be closed, the Central Bank of Nigeria had to approve it.

According to Access Bank, it has neither applied for any branch closure nor obtained the approval of the CBN for the closure of its branches as widely speculated.

The bank has only suspended operations in some branches following the directive by the CBN.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, we suspended in-branch operations at different locations as directed by the CBN and in line with business continuity plans at vulnerable spots; whilst we continued to provide services through our alternative digital platforms.

In line with the phased re-opening of the economy effective May 4, following the Presidential directives, we will be resuming in-branch services in some of our affected branches in a programmed manner to ensure the health and safety of our employees and customers.

This is also necessary to provide relevant contingency should there be any incident arising from the pandemic.

We deny in its entirety the baseless and twisted speculation that the bank is sacking 75 per cent of its workforce,

said the statement.

It noted that based on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, not all its branches would be fully open for in-branch services until later in the year.

This has made it impossible for many of our outsourced workers to perform duties as usual.“We have commenced engagement with various stakeholders with a view to ensuring that they provide the relevant services and optimum manpower as may be required by the bank on an on-going basis,

it added.

The bank, however, assured its esteemed stakeholders that it would continue to ensure that its actions and decisions are guided by fairness, justice, equity and good conscience.

As we navigate the new normal occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, we wish to assure all our esteemed stakeholders that our traditional manner the bank will continue to ensure that its actions and decisions are guided by fairness justice equity and good conscience,

the bank stated further.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.