Nearly two years after receiving employment offers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), no fewer than 60 recruits from across the country say they are still waiting to be posted.
What initially appeared to be a life-changing opportunity has instead left many of them unemployed, financially strained and emotionally distressed after resigning from their previous jobs to meet the conditions attached to the offer.
One of the affected recruits, Benedict Ali Ojobo, said the employment letter he received in August 2023 was meant to mark the beginning of a stable career and a chance to serve the nation. Instead, he says it has become the start of a painful personal ordeal.
Ojobo, a native of Benue State, received a formal offer of employment from the apex bank on August 28, 2023. According to him, accepting the offer required significant sacrifices, including abandoning a long-awaited promotion opportunity at his former workplace.
“I missed a promotion examination to the position of Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services, because it coincided with the date fixed for the collection of my appointment letter and documentation at the CBN headquarters in Abuja,” he said.
The missed exam cost him a promotion from Chief Pharmacist to Assistant Director that was due in October 2023.
Confident that the opportunity at the CBN would open new doors, Ojobo completed all the documentation required by the bank. Since October 2023, however, he said he has been waiting without any training date, posting or explanation from the institution.
“I have done all documentation and have been awaiting training and posting since October 2023,” he said.
Personal tragedies
Before travelling to Abuja for the final stages of the recruitment process, Ojobo shared the news with his father, a retired primary school teacher who was battling diabetes and hypertension.
According to him, his father was deeply proud of the achievement and even accompanied him to Abuja for the final medical tests.
“My father believed in the authenticity of the process,” he said.
But the joy was short-lived.
Because Ojobo was working in Makurdi while his father lived in Otukpo, the elderly man was unaware that months had passed without his son resuming work.
Ojobo said the truth eventually surfaced through his younger sister, Christiana Omeche Ojobo.
“On hearing that I had not resumed work despite collecting the employment letter, my father suffered a heart attack instantly,” he said.
The shock proved fatal. His father was buried on May 25, 2025.
Another tragedy followed when a close friend who travelled from Zaria to attend the burial died in a road accident on his way.
The emotional impact also affected his younger sister, who was present when their father collapsed. According to Ojobo, she later developed severe health complications linked to trauma and cardiac problems.
She underwent heart surgery at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital but died during the procedure on May 30, 2024.
For Ojobo, the job offer that once symbolised hope now reminds him of a chain of painful losses.
Recruits recount hardships
Ojobo explained that he went through all stages of the recruitment process, including the aptitude test, interviews and medical screening.
“I was even required to take the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the requirements,” he said, noting that he initially had reservations but accepted because he believed the job would change his life.
According to him, successful candidates were instructed to resign from their previous jobs, open pension accounts, provide guarantors and complete several administrative forms.
“I completed all the required documentation. For me, the opportunity was a dream come true. Unfortunately, after all this, we were never called to resume work,” he said.
Investigations indicate that Ojobo is not alone. At least 60 recruits selected during the bank’s June–August 2023 recruitment exercise are reportedly still awaiting posting nearly two years later.
In a letter dated September 20, 2024 and addressed to the CBN governor, the affected recruits outlined the financial and emotional toll of the delay.
The letter, signed by one of the recruits, Auta Godwin, stated that the prolonged waiting period had left many of them without income for between 13 and 16 months.
Some said they now struggle to meet basic needs such as rent, food, healthcare and school fees for their children.
Lives on hold
Francisca Idachaba, an indigene of Kogi State, described the experience as living in “psychological limbo.”
Like Ojobo, she said she completed the recruitment process successfully and resigned from her previous job as required.
“After receiving the offer letter, we were asked to resign from our previous jobs. We were also told to open pension accounts, fill several forms and provide guarantors,” she said.
“Unfortunately, after all this, we were never called to resume work.”
Another recruit, Pangdul Geoffrey Kunda from Plateau State, said his family initially celebrated the job offer, believing it would provide stability for him, his wife and their two children.
“What followed was not progress, but silence,” he said. “And that silence became a burden.”
He said the prolonged uncertainty has caused constant anxiety and sleepless nights.
“I existed in emotional suspension — afraid to commit to other paths, yet unable to move on,” he added.
Some recruits say the consequences have been especially severe because they resigned from their previous jobs.
Esther Nuhu, a former employee of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, said she left her job after just four months because resignation was a condition for accepting the CBN offer.
“I complied in good faith, but I was never posted, and I lost my first and only stable source of income,” she said.
Yakubu Yarima, a UK-trained professional from Gombe State, also resigned from his previous employment after receiving the offer.
According to sources close to him, the prolonged silence from the bank has caused significant financial and emotional strain.
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Call for government intervention
A development expert, Musa Abdullahi, has called on the Federal Government to intervene in the matter.
According to him, the affected recruits have endured unnecessary hardship after leaving their jobs based on the bank’s offer.
“Government should try to do the needful by recalling them,” he said.
He suggested that authorities either absorb the recruits into the system or compensate them so they can rebuild their lives.
“Nigeria must desist from dashing people’s hopes,” he added.
Efforts to obtain an official response from the Central Bank were unsuccessful.
Calls and messages sent to the bank’s spokesperson, Hakama Sidi-Ali, since January 24, 2026 had not been answered as of the time of filing this report.
However, a staff member of the CBN who spoke on condition of anonymity said the matter is currently before a court and that he was not authorised to comment on it.
