By Festus Fifen

Six months after a senate resolution to recall 8 illegally dismissed civil servants, the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) Prof. Tunji Olaopa has again, defied the 10th Senate by adamantly refusing to comply with the resolution of the upper chambers in its December 10, 2025 Votes and Proceeding where the commission was directed to reinstate eight illegally dismissed members of staff from the Federal Ministries of Environment and Works.

In the resolution, the senate asked the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), to ensure the reinstatement and the posting of the petitioners to their respective ministries to resume work.

The affected officers include Julius-Fifen Eseoghene Joy, Dangla Bitrus; Attahiru Enagi, Patrick Ikechukwu, Ukueku Oghenetega, Opara Adaoma, Opara Chukwuemeka, and Oloriegbe Inamud.

The resolution followed a the consideration of petition by Throneroom Attorneys, headed by Mr
John Iyafokhai on behalf of the petitioners on March 13, 2024.

The senate reffered the petition to the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petition for investigation and recommendations.

In response to the referral, the committee on May 7, 2024, under its powers as enshrined in Sections 62, 88 and 89 of the Constitution, summoned the FCSC chairman, the Head of Service of the Federation, the Minister of Environment, the Minister Works and the former Director of Recruitment in the FCSC, Mr Ibrahim El-Yakubu.

The officials were asked to appear for a public hearing which held at Senate Meeting Room 120 on Tuesday May 21, 2024, Wednesday July 11, 2024 and Wednesday November 27, 2024.

The investigation conducted by the committee showed that the petitioners were duly employed by the FCSC with duly signed appointments letters by the Director of Recruitment and Appointment at FCSC.

The outcome of the investigation also showed that the names of the petitioners were published on the official gazette, and that they sat for the compulsory 2020/2022 Confirmation/Promotion Examination (COMPRO) conducted by the office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF)

Upon conclusion of investigation, the Chairman of the committee, Sen. Neda Imasuen (APC-Edo) presented the panel’s report with three unambiguous recommendations.

“The Senate do urge the FCSC and the Office of the OHCSF to reinstate all the eight dismissed officers namely:

“Mrs Julius- Fifen Joy Eseoghene, Dangla Elisha Bitrus, Attahiru Mohammed Enagi, Ani Patrick Ikechukwu, Ukueku Oghenetega Opara Sylvia Adaoma, Opara Anthony Chukwuemeka; and Oloriegbe Charlse Inamudu and post them back to their respective ministries to resume work.

“That the Senate do urge the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation to unfreeze all the salary accounts of the officers and pay their arrears of salaries and entitlements from the date of their dismissal to date.

“That the Senate do direct the Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure that the FCSC chairman, and the OHCSF, complied with the Senate Resolutions on this matter.”

After consideration of the report, the recommendations were adopted by the senate as captured in the December 10, 2025 Votes and Proceeding of the upper chamber.

Following the development, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Kamoru Ogunlana on January 29, 2026, wrote the FCSC chairman to convey the resolution of the Senate and it was acknowledged on February 3, 2026.

Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Compliance, Sen. Garba Maidoki (APC-Kebbi) had on December 16, 2025, January 21, 2026 and on February 25, 2026, written the FCSC chairman to ensure compliance but to no avail.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation in a letter dated March 29, 2026, directed the FCSC to comply with the senate resolutions but that has not been done.

Also, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF) in a letter dated May 14, 2026, signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Dr Ibrahim Kana, also directed the commission to take the necessary action as directed by the senate but that has not been done.

It could be recalled that the 9th House of Representatives led by the then Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila also received this same petition on November 21, 2022.

The petition was referred to the House Committee on Public Petitions and the investigation was concluded on the March 23, 2023 in favour of the petitioners.

The then Chairman of the committee Rep. Jerry Alagbaoso, presented the report on the floor of the 9th House of Reps, as reflected in the Vote and Proceeding of Tuesday June 6, 2023 .

However, the house could not ensure implementation before the end of the 9th National Assembly, hence the need to represent the petition to the 10th Senate.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, one of the victims, Mrs Julius -fifen eseoghene Joy said that she and her other colleagues had faced untold hardship after their illegal dismissal since 2022.

She said that meeting basic needs of life like food to eat, rent, school fees medical bills among others required them to sell their personal property such as phone among valuable iterms to stay alive.

“We have gone through the right channels to seek justice; the National Assembly has investigated the matter and both the 9th and the current 10th Assembles have ruled in our favour.

“Yet, despite so many letters and correspondence from superior authorities, the commission has blatantly refused to obey the ruling of the National Assembly and other superior authorities to reinstate us.

“We do not know where else to go anymore, if the commission, a product of an Act of Parliament cannot respect the National Assembly, that means it is now bigger than Nigeria,

“We are begging all Nigerians to come to our aid, we have done no wrong, all we want is to go back to work and be able to provide for our families.

“This illegal termination has caused us so much pains and hardship, we are calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in this matter and give us Renewed Hope.

“We call on the uncommon Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio to defend the authority of the Senate and not let anyone undermine the institution under his watch.

“Very Dark Man, Ordinary President Ahmed Issah of Berekete Family, Labour Unions, social media influencers, human rights activists, please come to our help, we do not have one but we Nigerians and deserve to earn a living,” she said.