The Federal Government has agreed to establish a committee to address the grievances of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) over withheld salaries and other pending demands.
The decision followed a meeting held on Friday in Abuja between the leadership of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of both unions and top government officials led by the Minister of Education, Mr. Tunji Alausa.
Also in attendance were the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, and other senior officials.
SSANU and NASU had demanded the release of the remaining two months’ withheld salaries of their members who participated in the 2022 strike.
In a communique issued last week, SSANU National President, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, decried the persistent delay in salary payments to federal universities and alleged unfair allocation of the N50 billion Earned Allowance, where only N10 billion was allocated to non-teaching unions comprising SSANU, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
Following Friday’s meeting, a joint statement signed by Mr. Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary, Mr. Peters Adeyemi, confirmed that the government had agreed to set up a special committee to tackle their demands.
According to the statement, the committee is expected to provide a structured response and present a clear resolution roadmap within one week.
“Top on the agenda were issues such as unjust allocation of earned allowances, exclusion of inter-university centres, stalled renegotiation of the NASU/SSANU-FGN agreement, and the non-payment of withheld salaries, among others,” the statement read.
Other grievances include delays in the payment of monthly salaries in some federal and state universities, arrears from the 25 per cent and 35 per cent salary increments, unpaid pensions, outstanding third-party deductions, and failure to implement the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the government in August 2022.
“We wish to inform our members that action has commenced on all our concerns and efforts are underway to resolve them. We will spare no effort to achieve progress on all issues presented,” the unions stated.
