The House of Representatives has directed the immediate reinstatement and payment of hundreds of non-academic staff allegedly disengaged by the University of Calabar following a disputed 2019/2020 recruitment exercise.
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‎The resolution followed the adoption of a report by the House Committee on Public Petitions, chaired by Bitrus Kwamoti, representing Michika/Madagali Federal Constituency of Adamawa State.
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‎The affected workers are said to have been recruited during the exercise but were later excluded from the university’s payroll, leaving them without salaries despite claims that they met all employment requirements and submitted necessary documentation.
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‎Many of the petitioners had approached the National Assembly, alleging prolonged financial hardship after several years without pay, even though they reportedly resumed duties following their appointments.
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‎The House, in its intervention, previously summoned the then Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Florence Obi, to explain the circumstances surrounding the recruitment and the alleged exclusion of the workers from payroll processing.
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‎Following legislative scrutiny, the committee directed the institution to reconcile and process the list of affected employees, although the petitioners later alleged that only academic staff were captured, while non-academic workers were left out.
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‎In its latest resolution, the House ordered the University of Calabar management to immediately reinstate all duly recruited academic and non-academic staff from the 2019/2020 exercise, based on a verified list of 385 employees submitted to the committee.
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‎It also directed that staff identification numbers be issued to the affected workers and their details forwarded for enrolment on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the Federal Government’s central payroll platform.
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‎The lawmakers expressed hope that the directive would end years of uncertainty for the affected employees, many of whom have reportedly remained without income since their appointment.
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‎While the university management is yet to officially respond to the resolution, stakeholders say attention now shifts to the implementation of the House directive and the eventual integration of the workers into the federal payroll system.