FG to pay SSANU, NASU 2 months of withheld salaries
the Federal Government will soon commence payment of two months out of the four months withheld salaries for the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU.
Vanguard reliably gathered that the memo for the payment is waiting for President Bola Tinubu’s approval
Recall that the four university based unions embarked on a prolonged strike in 2022 over unresolved issues with the federal government.
While the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, stayed eight months, the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, was at home for about five and half months, while NASU and SSANU spent four months at home.
The development led to the invocation of “No work, no pay” policy by the President Muhammadu Buhari led government.
However, President Bola Tinubu had last year said he would not want any strike in the nation’s tertiary institutions and declared amnesty for the university workers to be paid four months of the withheld salaries.
The Ministry of Finance and Accountant General Office complied with the presidential directive and ASUU members were paid the approved four months in October last year.
Dissatisfied with what they described as selective and discriminatory payment, the three non teaching staff unions also demanded that they should be paid the approved four months withheld salaries.
After long waiting without action from the government, the Joint Action Committee, JAC, comprising SSANU and NASU, issued series of ultimatum to the government and even embarked on protest rally
However, during the meeting between the organized labour and President Tinubu on minimum wage at the presidential Villa, Abuja, payment of the withheld salaries was among the request the labour leaders made from the President.
Without hesitation, President Tinubu accepted the request and directed the Ministers of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning and Education to work out the modalities for payment.
Vanguard gathered that the Ministry of Education has submitted its modalities to the President and recommended that NASU and SSANU should be paid half of the total months they were owed while the strike lasted in the same manner, ASUU was paid four out of eight months they were on strike.
The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, told Vanguard that action has been taken on the President directive and that the ministry is waiting for Mr. President’s approval.
The Minister said that the two unions would be paid 50 percent of the withheld salaries which means that they will receive two months out of the four months they were on strike like the ASUU that was paid four months out of the eight months on strike.
As at the time of filing this report, there was no information on fate of NAAT and how many months it would be paid out of the five and half months it stayed away from work during the strike.
