The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at Sa’adu Zungur University, Bauchi, has raised alarm over what it described as worsening welfare conditions and deliberate neglect by the institution’s management—a situation it says has already forced 30 PhD holders to resign.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, the ASUU-SAZU Chairman, Dr. Awwal Hussain, said the union was compelled to speak out following months of alleged indifference from the management despite the intervention of Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Hussain said the university failed to clear accumulated salary arrears as agreed in Item 3 of the MoU, which mandated that all outstanding claims be settled within 12 months—a deadline that expired on December 9, 2020.
“It is on a very painful note that the union draws the attention of stakeholders and the general public to the deliberate, persistent, and unjustifiable lapses of the university management,” he said.
He noted that even with what he described as “unprecedented funding in the university’s history,” the management allegedly withheld three months of salary arrears. According to him, the monthly allocation to the university rose from N80 million to over N400 million after Governor Mohammed’s intervention.
The union also expressed concern over the stalled implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme. Hussain said that although deductions had commenced, the actuarial valuation for pension backlogs submitted to the government had not received any response.
He added that several families of deceased staff were still being denied their entitlements, noting that “the benefits of some of our deceased members remain unsettled till today.”
Hussain further accused the university management of ignoring official correspondence from the union. He cited letters dated August 14, 2025; November 19, 2025; and December 4, 2025, seeking clarification on unpaid entitlements, all of which allegedly received no response.
He also described as unacceptable the “piecemeal” payment of 25 per cent and 35 per cent wage award arrears, insisting that the remaining 2019 minimum wage consequential adjustment must be paid at once.
Following a review of the MoU one year after signing, the union rated its implementation at just 30 per cent. Hussain listed unresolved issues including non-payment of pension backlog valuation, incomplete settlement of earned allowances, failure to release the White Paper on the Visitation Panel Report, non-re-advertisement of the Bursar position, and zero implementation of staff training and retention programmes.
He warned that the union had already triggered internal processes to resume its suspended strike if the issues remained unresolved.
Efforts to obtain the university management’s reaction were unsuccessful, as its spokesperson, Auwal Hassan, did not respond to inquiries as of press time.
