Stop Placing Unrealistic Targets On Marketers, CBN Governor Tells Banks

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has warned commercial banks operating in the country against placing unrealistic deposit targets on their marketers. The apex bank gave the warning during the 2014 Bank Directors Association of Nigeria stakeholders’ forum held in Lagos.

The warning is as a result of the current practice by some financial institutions in the country whereby prospective employees are forced to meet unrealistic deposit target as a prerequisite for employment or promotion.



The practice, according to the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele who was represented at the forum by Oneybuchi Kelvin of the Banking Supervision Department, goes against the grains of acceptable ethical conduct and corporate governance. He told the gathering that the practice could induce negative moral implications.

According to him, forcing bank marketers, especially females to meet unrealistic deposit targets could influence their decision to engage in illegal and immoral acts. To curtail this trend, he said: “The CBN is using moral suasion. We have been talking to banks about it. It is a continuous effort that we are making and we see the trend coming down. We cannot sanction the banks because it a completely business decision. “But then we are telling banks that it is a wrong business decision. We have been speaking to them to change the strategy because it is affecting the banking culture and the landscape of the industry”

He added that the apex bank is working closely with the banks to reduce the amount of people that are compelled to resort to unethical means to meet unrealistic targets set by their banks. He further added that “The Governor of the CBN is using the instrumentality of the bankers’ committee to talk to the management of banks to stem down on some of these policies. The intention is not to kill the marketing departments but to reduce the pressure by reducing the unrealistic targets that they place on marketers. The target should be realistic.”

Also speaking, the President of BDAN, Dr. Sonny Kuku urged the apex bank to censor the activities of commercial banks forcing their marketers to meet up with unrealistic targets. “We cannot continue like this. It is against international best practice. Promotion or hiring should not be based on raising money to banks through any means. There has to be standard. That is the only way we can restore sanity to the system,” he said.