The Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu, has urged the Ministry of Finance to implement the payment of four months’ withheld salaries of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU).
In a letter dated July 11, 2024, addressed to the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, Sununu noted that President Bola Tinubu had approved the payment at the Federal Executive Council meeting on July 10, 2024.
The withheld salaries resulted from an eight-month strike embarked upon by the university workers in 2022, with the Federal Government applying the ‘no work, no pay’ principle.
While the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members have received payment for four months, NASU and SSANU members are yet to receive theirs, despite the presidential approval.
Documents sighted on Thursday indicated that the President had also approved the payment of four months’ salary for NASU and SSANU.
However, six weeks after the approval, the Ministry of Finance, despite acknowledging a receipt of letters written by the Ministry of State for Education, has yet to release the funds.
The education minister, Sununu, on July 11, 2024, wrote a letter to the finance minister, Edun, which was titled: “Request for the implementation of presidential waiver for payment of withheld salaries to the non-academic staff of Nigerian universities.”
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.”
Several sources within the Ministry of Education and the unions noted that upon knowledge of the information, efforts had been made to meet with the Minister of Finance to ensure the release of the funds.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the finance ministry, Muhammed Manga, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
