The Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) and management of Unity Bank Plc are set for a showdown over termination of appointments of over 100 staff of the bank on New Year day.
ASSBIFI has given the bank till January 8, 2026 to recall the over 100 staff it terminated their appointments, reports Daily Independent.
On January 1, 2026, Mr. Ebenezer Kolawole, Managing Director, Unity Bank Plc was said to have directed the head of Human Resources to serve over 100 staff their termination letters and immediately deny them access to all logins.
The victims accused the MD of wrongful termination without consultation, valid reasons and failure to comply with due process, thus contravening the Nigeria Labor Act as well as the scheme of merger document between Unity Bank PLC and Providus Bank PLC.
However, on January 2, 2026, sources confirmed a document written and signed by Nike Joseph, Acting President, ASSBIFI and addressed to the MD/CEO of Unity Bank, asked him to immediately reverse the sack of 42 staff that they are aware of or face a show down and industrial actions.
The union has asked the MD to withdraw the termination letters immediately and be ready for a meeting with them to resolve the matter amicably.
“An ultimatum of 8th January 2026 has been issued by the warring union to address the matter promptly to avoid taking the necessary industrial actions.
“How can Nigerians be shouting “Happy New Year” to one another in churches and in clubs across the country, while some bankers start the New Year of their staff with sadness?” the source questioned.
The New Year ‘gift’ which came as a rude shock to the affected staff, it was learnt, sent some of them to the hospitals, an action which ASSBIFI termed “provocative and a deliberate violation of due process”.
Unfortunately, Unity Bank had earlier reached an agreement with the bankers that no employee will be sacked as a result of the merger between Unity Bank PLC and Providus Bank PLC without due consultation and due process until it pierced the hearts of its workers.
Meanwhile, Comrade Basah Mohammed, Civil Society Practitioner and Public Affairs Analyst explained that what is happening at Unity Bank feels painfully familiar, adding that the pattern had being seen before.
He noted that when a restructuring happens, a merger is announced, and workers end up carrying the heaviest burden.
“No one is pretending that mergers do not come with hard decisions. They do. But people matter and how those decisions are taken matters even more. If there was an understanding that staff would not be disengaged without consultation, then breaking that understanding is not just a procedural issue. It is a trust issue.
“For many of these workers, this is not just a job loss on paper. It is rent, school fees, family responsibilities, and years of service suddenly reduced to a termination letter. That human cost should never be an afterthought, especially in a rescue merger that was meant to stabilise confidence, not deepen anxiety.
“This is also where regulators must be firm. Saving a bank should not mean weakening labour protections or ignoring agreed processes. Transparency, dialogue, and fairness are not luxuries. They are what keep institutions credible.
“At this point, escalation helps no one. The bank, the union, and regulators need to sit down, revisit what was agreed, and resolve this with empathy and honesty. Strong institutions are built when people feel respected, not discarded,” he stated.
