Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have called upon President Bola Tinubu to promptly settle the four-month withheld salaries owed to non-teaching staff by the previous administration.
The appeal was made during the National Executive Council meeting of the association.
Expressing their concerns, union members emphasized the significance of receiving the funds before Christmas to enable their members to celebrate the festive season as anticipated.
In a statement released at the conclusion of the meeting, Mohammed Ibrahim, the President of SSANU, urged President Tinubu to uphold his commitment to the N35,000 wage award. Despite President Tinubu’s recent directive to release the withheld salaries, both academic and non-academic staff are still awaiting payment.
“The NEC-in-session acknowledged the government’s approval to pay the four months’ salaries that were withheld due to the last industrial action,” stated Ibrahim. He highlighted the union’s dissatisfaction with the government’s delay in disbursing the funds and urged prompt payment to restore members’ confidence in the government.
The SSANU President also celebrated the withdrawal of universities from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform, aligning with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in considering it a positive step.
While commending the government’s decision to exempt tertiary institutions from IPPIS, Ibrahim emphasized the need for extensive consultation with university management and labor unions. This, he argued, would ensure a seamless transition to a new payment regime that addresses the unique challenges faced by university workers.
“NEC-in-session appreciates the decision of the federal government to exempt all tertiary institutions from IPPIS. While commending this decision, it, however, encourages the government to critically consult the Management of Universities and labor unions on a workable, reliable, seamless, and acceptable approach in transiting to the new regime to capture the peculiarities of university workers,” stated Ibrahim.
In response to the government’s promised wage award, Ibrahim remarked, “NEC-in-session recalls the approval of the government to increase the salaries of university workers by 25% and 35%. Though this proposal is a far cry from the salary increase demanded by SSANU, we regarded it as an award by the government and therefore expected that the award should have been implemented by now.”
