Tinubu’s Government Promises Half Payment Of Withheld Salaries To University Staff

The Federal Government announced that non-academic university staff will receive half of their withheld salaries if President Bola Tinubu approves the payment.

Minister of Education Tahir Mamman clarified that non-academic staff did not strike as long as academic staff and would thus receive half the pay based on the president’s prior decisions regarding academic staff.

The decision has caused concerns of perceived discrimination, but the government is actively working towards resolution.

The Federal Government has announced that non-academic staff members of Nigerian universities will receive half of their withheld salaries if President Bola Tinubu approves their salary arrears payment.

VerseNews reports that the Education Minister Tahir Mamman made this announcement on Channels Television’s Politics Today program.

Mamman clarified that members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) did not strike as long as their academic counterparts in 2022.

While SSANU and NASU staged a one-week warning strike in March to protest withheld salaries, the government had earlier approved four out of the eight months’ withheld salaries for academic staff.

SSANU and NASU have expressed concerns over perceived discrimination, noting that the academic union received more lenient treatment in salary payments.

However, Minister Mamman defended the government’s approach, citing a court judgement on the ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy, and the president’s discretion in ASUU’s case.

Though unable to provide a specific timeline, Mamman assured that the government is actively working on the matter and aiming for resolution.

He emphasized that non-academic staff will receive half the pay based on the President’s prior decisions regarding academic staff, considering the difference in strike duration.