The Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu, has officially requested the Ministry of Finance to release four months’ worth of withheld salaries for university workers under the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU).
This development follows President Bola Tinubu’s approval during the Federal Executive Council meeting held on July 10, 2024.
The President had authorized the payment of four months’ salary out of the eight months initially withheld after university workers embarked on an eight-month-long strike in 2022.
The strike had led the previous administration under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari to implement a “no work, no pay” policy, affecting the salaries of both non-academic staff and academic staff represented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
While ASUU members have already received their payments as per the President’s directive, SSANU and NASU members have yet to receive their four-month salary payments. Despite the Ministry of Finance receiving a letter from Sununu on July 11, 2024, titled “Request for the implementation of presidential waiver for payment of withheld salaries to the non-academic staff of Nigerian universities,” no funds have been released to date.
This situation has caused significant frustration among members of NASU and SSANU, who have been applying pressure on the Federal Government to ensure they are treated equally with their academic counterparts.
Six weeks after the approval, the workers are still awaiting their funds, with the Ministry of Finance yet to implement the President’s directive.
Sununu wrote, “Kindly recall Mr President’s directive at the Federal Executive Council meeting of July 10, 2024 on the waiver for the payment of withheld salaries of university unions during the period they embarked on strike.
“It is pertinent to state that the Academic Staff Union of Universities has received payments of their four months’ withheld salaries. However, the following non-academic staff unions have the presidential waiver for 50% of their withheld salaries for the period they embarked on strike for April to August 2022.”
