Michael Okpara University Workers Seek Tinubu's Intervention Over Controversial Disengagement

No fewer than 127 staff members of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in their disengagement.

The affected workers made the appeal on Monday during a press conference in Umuahia. Speaking on behalf of the group, Eze Ejike, alongside Nwaike Gospel and Roseline Okpechi, alleged that the university management compelled them to sign disengagement letters after they had worked for about five months without salaries.

According to Ejike, they were among 553 candidates recruited following a Federal Government-approved employment exercise conducted in October 2025.

He said they completed interviews, documentation, medical examinations, biometric capture by officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and other recruitment formalities before receiving appointment letters in February 2026.

Ejike said, “We have worked for about five months and have not received any salary. The person who obtained the waiver was the previous Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Maduebibisi Iwe, and we underwent biometric capture under the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System.

“The current VC, Prof Ursula Akanwa, came in while we were undergoing documentation. Immediately she assumed office, she called us for a meeting and asked us to brace up in our new jobs, stating that as long as we had been captured by officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, we had nothing to fear because we were in the mainstream.

“We resumed work and were deployed to different departments. Some of us resigned from our previous jobs because we believed our appointments were valid,” he said.

Ejike alleged that after working for about five months without pay, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Akanwa, informed them that the employment waiver granted to the university covered only 426 positions, leaving 127 workers outside the approved quota.

He said 426 workers eventually received salary payments, while the remaining 127 were directed to stop reporting for duty.

According to him, the workers were later invited to a meeting where they were instructed to submit their identity cards and sign disengagement letters.

Ejike said, “On Monday, July 13, the VC called us for another meeting and informed us that there was a development and that the waiver the university got was for 426 positions. She said those not among the 426 would not be paid and should stop coming to work.

“On Monday last week, some people started receiving salary alerts. By the end of the day, about 426 people had been paid.”

He alleged that some of the affected staff signed the letters under duress after security personnel prevented them from leaving the venue.

“When they started calling our names, the first thing they demanded was our identity cards. They started collecting the cards and asked those affected to sign disengagement letters. Some of us left after realising what was happening,” he said.

“The worrisome aspect of the situation was that the management summoned the remaining 127 of us to a hall to fill out a form. When we got there, all we saw was a form where you filled in your phone number, name, staff ID and account number. That was all. Nobody addressed us. You simply filled the form and left.”

They appealed to President Tinubu, the Accountant-General of the Federation, the National Assembly, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and relevant human rights organisations to investigate the matter and facilitate their reinstatement.

“We legally got the jobs and completed every stage of the recruitment process. We are calling on the relevant authorities to intervene and ensure justice is done,” Ejike said.

“So, that is the condition in which the newly recruited staff of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture found themselves. That is why we are calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Accountant-General of the Federation, the National Assembly, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, relevant human rights organisations and other stakeholders to investigate the matter and assist us in securing our reinstatement. We are Nigerians. It is our right. We legally got the jobs, and we merited them.”

Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Akanwa, were unsuccessful as she said she was in a meeting when contacted.