The Federal Government has initiated the disbursement of previously withheld salaries owed to academic staff members represented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), according to reports from PUNCH Online.
Multiple sources within the academic community confirmed this development to correspondents in Abuja on Monday.
Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, the chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, affirmed the progress, stating, “Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in.”
In October 2023, President Bola Tinubu sanctioned the release of four out of the eight months’ worth of salaries withheld from ASUU workers.
This action followed the implementation of a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ by the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari during an eight-month strike by university-based unions in 2022.
Recent statements by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, indicate that the government has increased salaries for university workers by 35%.
Additionally, autonomy has been granted to universities, removing them from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System. Mamman also noted that universities no longer require a waiver for recruitment or to fill vacancies.
These decisions were reached through informal consultations with unions representing tertiary institution workers, as highlighted by Mamman.