A major controversy is unfolding at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, as hundreds of workers who claim to have served the institution for over six years without receiving any wages staged a protest over alleged irregularities in the staff capturing and payroll process.
The aggrieved workers, some of whom say they have been working since 2019, accused the university management of what they described as “institutional betrayal.”
They alleged that despite their years of unpaid service and hardship, the current administration is exploiting a federal employment waiver to allegedly enroll new “cronies” into the payroll through a process conducted off-campus in Enugu State.
The controversy escalated this week amid reports that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) capturing exercise was being conducted off-campus and outside the state, in Enugu.
In a viral protest video obtained by SaharaReporters, a visibly distressed staff member decried what he described as “questionable conditions” surrounding the exercise, alleging that long-serving employees were being sidelined in favour of unfamiliar names that never appeared in the university’s original records.
“This situation reflects a total disregard for fairness and the welfare of those who have endured years of hardship. We have worked since 2019 with nothing to show for it, only to be told now that new people are being captured while we are left in the cold,” one protester lamented.
Reacting to the mounting tension, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bond Anyaehie, dismissed the allegations of foul play, insisting that the university is simply following a phased approach to capturing staff into the federal payroll.
Speaking on the unrest, Anyaehie blamed the workers’ “inability to accept phased capturing” for the chaos.
“They are being captured in batches, but all of them want to be captured the same day. Their inability to accept phased capturing has remained a problem for months,” the VC stated.
Source: SaharaReporters
