MOUAU Recruitment Scandal: 127 Staff Sacked After Five Months Without Pay

.Varsity absolves VC

Boniface Okoro in Umuahia

Controversy has continued to trail the federal government’s employment waiver granted to Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU), following the sack of 127 out of 553 staff recruited in a recent employment exercise, five months after resumption.

It was gathered that while the federal government approved the recruitment of 426 staff for the immediate past administration of the university, management issued appointment letters to 618 persons. However, only 553 of them were captured on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS, in Umudike.

Though the new intakes were issued legitimate appointment letters and assumed duties in April, they were redeployed to various offices where they worked for five months without salaries before being asked to surrender their identity cards on July 16, 2026.

An affected staff, Eze Ejike, alleged unfair treatment during a chat with journalists, insisting that they were legitimately employed by the institution but subsequently laid off after five months of service without pay. Ejike, in company of other affected workers, said they were issued legitimate appointment letters dated January 14, 2026 and assumed duties in April.

In a statement by the Concerned Staff of MOUAU, the workers explained that their recruitment began after vacancies were advertised in October 2025. Applicants applied online, received appointment letters effective January 2026, and underwent biometric capture on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) in Umudike.

“We resumed duties and were posted to various departments around April 2026, where we worked for about five months without receiving salaries,” the statement read.

According to them, letters of employment were issued to 618 persons, about 553 staff completed capture but only 426 were uploaded for payment. “In July, the university paid one month’s salary to 426 and asked the rest to stop coming to work,” they stated. 

They added that on July 16, they were assembled and asked to surrender their ID cards and sign termination forms “under duress.”

“We accepted the appointments in good faith, abandoned stable jobs, relocated our families, and devoted months of service to the university. We deserve fair treatment, transparency, and should be reinstated as bona fide staff,” they stated.

The disengaged workers are now calling on the federal government, National Assembly, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and human rights organisations to probe the matter with a view to reinstating them. 

But the university management has absolved the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Ngozi Akanwa of any blame in the whole recruitment saga.

Clarifying on the issue, the University’s Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Anyaso Anyaso, said the recruitment exercise, including the payroll capture, were concluded before Prof. Akanwa came on board on March 1, 2026.

He said the federal government gave a waiver for the recruitment of 426 staff, a figure approved by the Governing Council and which the previous management was directed to strictly adhere to.

“Ironically, appointment letters were issued to 618 persons. 553 were captured on GIFMIS, but only the 426 approved positions were eventually uploaded for salary payment,” Anyaso said.

“Suffice it to state here that the Vice Chancellor has no access to the GIFMIS platform to either remove or change any name uploaded,” he added, to refute claims that the 127 disengaged staff were substituted by the VC.

The university urged the public to disregard “insinuations being peddled by mischief makers” and to rely only on official channels for accurate information.

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