CALABAR, CROSS RIVER— Numerous non-academic staff members hired by the University of Calabar (UNICAL) throughout the 2019/2020 employment drive are set to return to work and receive their salaries.
This follows a direct mandate from your house of Representatives ordering their immediate reinstatement and integration into the institution’s official payroll.
The legislative directive brings an advancement to a bitter, multi-year labour dispute that had actually left hundreds of university workers stranded without compensation, despite having valid work letters and completing their mandatory statutory documentation.
Root of the Multi-Year Payroll Disagreement
The crisis started after the affected team member petitioned the National Assembly, declaring that while they were legally contracted by the university, the management intentionally excluded them from the centralised payroll system, successfully denying them their wages.
The petition led the House Committee on Public Petitions to summon the then Vice-Chancellor of UNICAL, Professor Florence Obi, to describe the abnormalities surrounding the 2019/2020 recruitment exercise.
Following that initial legislative hearing, the university was purchased to harmonise its registers and catch the workers.
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However, the non-academic petitioners later on returned to the green chamber to report that the university had actually selectively captured only the academic staff from that recruitment pool, leaving the non-academic workforce totally locked out.
House of Representatives Passes Binding Decision
Fresh hope emerged for the workers after your house Committee on Public Petitions concluded its examination and provided its final findings before the floor of your home.
The green chamber all embraced the committee’s report, issuing an explicit directive to UNICAL authorities to regularise the consultations of all impacted personnel without further delay.
The House worried that selective payroll combination makes up an administrative offense that breaches civil service guidelines.
To prevent more manipulation of the work slots, your home of Representatives attached a validated masterlist to its binding resolution, giving university bursars a clear operational blueprint.
Secret Deliverables Mandated by the House:
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Immediate Reinstatement: Recalling all impacted non-academic personnel to their designated departments.
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Payroll Capture: Publishing the workers onto the federal wage payment entrance to begin regular month-to-month disbursements.
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Adherence to the Masterlist: Limiting the regularisation strictly to the verified list of 385 employees investigated by the committee.
With the adoption of the report, the UNICAL Governing Council and management are anticipated to adhere to the National Assembly’s resolution right away.
This step will finally bring an end to the protracted industrial standoff and restore livelihood security to the 385 impacted families.