One hundred and twenty-seven new staff of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture,, Umudike, Abia State, who were employed by the Federal Government , have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to prevail on the management of the institution to reinstate them as duly employed workers of the institution.
The workers who were at the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, office in Umuahia on Monday to seek help, alleged that they were sacked and replaced with candidates allegedly fetched from outside the original employment list.
Speaking on behalf of his disengaged colleagues, Mr. Eze Ejike and Mrs Gospel Nwaike said that 553 new workers were duly employed by the Federal Government and captured on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS, by officials from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Abuja.
He said that despite being issued official appointment letters and staff Identity Cards by the Federal Government, and despite working for five months in 2026, the management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, sacked them on Wednesday, 15th July 2026.
He claimed that 127 names contained in the authentic GIFMIS list of 553 employed workers have been substituted and replaced with candidates supplied by senior officials of the university.
Ejike who alleged that many of the disengaged staff were forced by security officials at the university to submit their official staff identity cards, also alleged that the staff were forced to sign their disengagement letters under duress.
Adding her voice, a female lawyer who is among the sacked staff, Mrs Roseline Okpechi, said she was unjustly laid off by the university management despite her name being on the original employment list sent from Abuja by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Okpechi who said her appointment letter is dated January 14, 2026, begged the Federal Government to mandate the university to publish the original names and also recall all the sacked 127 workers.
When contacted for response, the Head of Public Relations and Protocol of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Anyaso Anyaso, said the management is not aware of such complaints, noting that no person or group had brought such complaints to the university authority’s knowledge.
“We are not aware of their claims. Of course there is no claims they have because they have not written the school,” Anyaso said.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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