NEXT, when did the CBN say it will not audit the three foreign companies? I thought they will get audited last after the 11 banks have been audited.

DOUBLE STANDARD STINKS!!!!This is the bank of Atedo Peterside who was making noise at the side of Sanusi during their shameful outing in London recently. Peterside attacked Soludo obviously at the behest of Sanusi. Can't we see that this whole thing is funny as the double standards stinks soooo terribly?

@Deola. It is not just NEXT. The quality of journalism in Nigeria is ridiculously alarming.

I ve started thoughting this NEXT pple, they seem to be moving in the direction of thisday and punch.U better wake or else..............

Let's hear it from Atedo Peterside. Na wah for Nigerian bankers. You were pouring venom on Soludo in London not knowing that you and your bank have so much to hide too. A case of the pot calling the kettle black, right? This is gross mismanagement and incompetence at work. Lamido Sanusi take note.

@Piet, thoughting?

Ha ha ha medicine after death... see what happened with Zain.. did govt react? Now banks with foreign links...do the same simple.. no standards in Nigerai for labour for anything!! it is a failed state!!!

@ Deola, I'm surprised too. I only know that the examination of the foreign banks will be much AFTER the local banks. @ Gbabe Ketu, since when did staff rationalization become a sign of something to hide?! Haba! Can't we even keep track of core issues without sentiments?

Mr. Bangudu, This story of yours does not do credit to your newspaper. You made no effort to do any research whatsoever. Who told you that banks with foreign affiliation will not or have not been audited? Did you make any attempt to talk with any bank official to get a clearer picture of what is going on? This lay-off may have been on the cards, long before Sanusi came on board. You owe it a duty to your readers and the public at large to make a reasonable attempt to get your facts right before rushing to pubish so as not to misinform the general public. Laying off staff may not necessarily be evidence of distress

Our banking sector is so much beclouded. The greatest threat so far is the inept way CBN has managed information fall out. I don't blame Next. Any news coming from the banking sector today, is bound to be sensationalized and twicked to the incredible. God help us all.

I'm not into banking but as a citizen must be concerned. When i first heard of this issue from a friend he narrated it like evrything is going all bad. However from both this article and coments, i have a better understanding.@Dudu your contribution is tremendously enlightening.

We have to raise our game and cut out sentiments. Sorry, but how we can heap the blame of the current banking crisis on Atedo Peterside is baffling? The entire sector currently is a mess and for those technically insolvent banks rescued by the CBN, think about the excess manpower baggage they are carrying. If StanbicIBTC jumps the gun by shedding staff, then it means its management is proactive and upfront with its issues rather than sweeping them under the carpet as the 5 bank CEOs did for years.

Cutting cost through staff audit/rationalization is ominous. The human beign is not an item. In an ideal state, government & its agencies will desperately save white collar jobs (USA & Germany for e.g). UNTL Kaduna shed 4,000 jobs in 2007, did you hear about it? Zain shed 400+, anyone noticed? This year alone, maybe 4,000 banking jobs have been lost, anyone bothered? Quite a number of University lecturers have got temporary attachment to overseas insttutions, is your government perturbed? @G.L., CBN didn't rescue any bank. they only took over this firms to trade them off. God help us all.

G.L & Dudu you guys are spot on, whenever there is merge / acquisiton there is bound to be staff rationalisation, which i believe is want the bank is doing to take advantage of the associate synegry. AS for we Nigerians we always like to flog issues, the truth is whole country need cleansing, banking sector no exception.

Atedo peterside feels that the incubent Governor of the CBN is his right hand man and thus he can blsphemy any how. Let me also remind him that from today, I am giving him 48 months and the music will change.He cannot reign more that necessary and he shall go into oblivion. He is alighining with Chibuike amechi, his boss to attack a man of honour, DR. PETER ODILI and sanusi lamido sanusi to attack to attack a queintessential economics and my kings man PROFESSOR CHUKWUMA SOLUDO.

I have to agree that the quality of this reporting is poor at best. It's all conjecture. Tabloid journalism should be left to the tabloids. NEXT should stick to reporting news accurately and succintly. When a news story is riddled with words like: "tends to suggest", "apparently" etc. It begs the question if the story is just being rushed to publication without sufficient facts. I expect more from NEXT. Editors please take note. By the way, sorry Seyi, it's not personal.

Am at a loss of words. Am beginning to think I may wake up one day to hear that Nigerian had been deleted from the world map because so many things went wrong with it and the file got corrupted by a VIRUS and the best way to preserve the sanity of people in it was to DELETE it. Laugh. Fellow country men our nation is in need of HELP! We are moving in the direction of a High speed train with no BRAKES

Sanusi did say 3 foreign banks (Stanbic,citibank n ....) will not be audited or better still have very low risk to the economy.

Like many banks in Nigeria IBTC has been hit hard by the financial crisis and the meltdown in the capital market. IBTC is a very strong and world class bank.This bank is reorganizing for the future by eliminating non value added processes which may include pruning the staff. This is the time for good banks to review their operations and resources so that they could function efficiently as a new business environment evolve.In the current market conditions, this is particularly important. With a capital adequacy ratio of 36%, one of the best in the sector,this bank is not in the same league with problem banks

@FEMI A: Though I got personally hurt by Peterside terribly in the past but I would still agree wt u dt IBTC is not in same league wt most of our Banks and to the rest commentators Peterside is not in same class with most of the brigands called CEO in the industry and for the Bank to be downsizing, it must be a professional decision, even the affected staff would attest to that. There is no wuruwuru and voodoo Banking at IBTC. Regards