Nigeria, Feb. 10 -- The women's presence, operation, and compensation have set tongues wagging across the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Senior staff members across the CBN's 29 departments are fuming and grumbling over how the women, arbitrarily brought in by Governor Olayemi Cardoso as consultants, have amassed enormous powers enabling them to sometimes issue directives to departmental directors.

There is also widespread anger across the board over what some insiders describe as the "unbelievably high and obscene" compensation the consultants earn monthly.

Mr Cardoso assumed duties as CBN governor on 22 September 2023. Some insiders said the women arrived with him that day at the bank. But some sources said the women only joined days...