___Canvasses immediate capturing and payment of recruited workers
By Tony Ezike
The Senator representing Anambra Central senatorial district Uche Ekwunife Ph.D has intervened in concerns raised by inability of the relevant authority to facilitate capturing of 1,497 non-academic staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) four years after appointment.
This information was contained in a motion moved at the floor of the Senate by Distinguished Senator Uche Ekwunife with a view to addressing issues hindering official capturing of the workers in the payroll of the Federal government.
According to the Chairman Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, “in 2019, the Vice Chancellor after getting approval from the University Governing Council to recruit academic and non-academic staff graciously embarked on a recruitment exercise for the positions in the university.”
Consequent upon this ugly development, the affected workers have been lamenting the untold hardship they have been facing since four years without good condition of service and no meaningful effort has so far been made to attend to their situation until this visible intervention of the Most Distinguished Senator Uche Ekwunife.
According to a well publicized statement by the Special Assistant to the Senator on Media and Publicity Mr Kingsley Ubani which read in part;
“However, at the end of the recruitment exercise, the recruited staff were directed to register and enroll into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform for staff monthly emoluments but they have not been captured at the time of moving this motion.”
Senator Ekwunife through her motion expressed concern that the non-capturing of the recruited UNIZIK staff by IPPIS since 2020 has made life very difficult for the staff, their families, and their dependants.
Ekwunife prayed the Senate to direct the Accountant General of the Federation to as a matter of urgency embark on immediate capturing of the recruited staff of UNIZIK by IPPIS for onward payment of their salaries and also to consider other recruited staff of universities across the country with similar situations.
Reacting to this development, a senior lecturer in UNIZIK Dr Patrick E. remarked;
“She Has Done it Again: Motion to End 2 Years hardship of Unizik Staff sails thru at the Senate.
“Over 2000 staff of Unizik who where duly recruited and have been working since 2020 without salary may heave a sigh of relief, as distinguished Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife moved a motion for urgent payment of their salary. The motion was immediately passed by the Senate.
“Feelers from the apex institution revealed the jubilant mode of the workers. Report has it that a cross section of the staff happily went on their knees to pray for distinguished Senator Uche Ekwunife to succeed in her quest to return to the 10th Senate come 25th February, 2023.”
