The Federal Government is considering providing half of the withheld salaries to non-academic staff members of universities, pending President Bola Tinubu's approval for the payment of their salary arrears.
According to Education Minister Tahir Mamman, who made the statement on Wednesday during Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) did not participate in the same period of strike as their academic counterparts in 2022.
In March, SSANU and NASU members staged a one-week warning strike to protest against the withholding of their salaries by the Federal Government. They criticized the government for releasing withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while overlooking the non-academic unions.
All the unions had engaged in an eight-month strike in 2022 to advocate for various demands, including improved welfare. Although the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari implemented a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against the unions, President Bola Tinubu approved the release of four months' withheld salaries last October.
SSANU and NASU accused the Federal Government of unfair treatment and discrimination by not compensating them similarly to their academic counterparts.
The education minister assured that the government is making efforts to address the issue. However, Mamman clarified that the payment has not yet been approved.
Regarding the delay in payment to NASU and SSANU members, Mamman explained that ASUU receiving four months' pay was a discretionary decision by the President and does not automatically extend to NASU and SSANU. He emphasized that the matter is currently under consideration.
When asked about the timeframe for payment to non-academic university staff members, Mamman declined to provide a specific timeframe but assured that efforts are underway. He noted that since non-academic staff members were not on strike for the same duration as academic staff, if approved, their payment would be half of that received by the academic staff, following the precedent set by the President.
Regarding the accusation of discrimination by NASU and SSANU, the minister dismissed it, attributing any misunderstanding to a communication issue rather than deliberate exclusion. He emphasized that all staff members work towards the same goal despite their different roles
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