Thursday, March 28, 2024

ASUU gives FG, states 14-day ultimatum on salaries, deductions

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday gave both the Federal and state governments a 14-day ultimatum to pay the shortfall in their salaries, running into millions of naira, or face unrest in the nation’s universities.

Some states owing lecturer their allowances and salaries were also not spared, as they were also given the same 14-day ultimatum to commence payment of such outstanding salaries and allowances or risk industrial action in the tertiary education sector.

The affected state universities, according to ASUU, included the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso; Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko and the Niger Delta University.

The university lecturers, under the aegis of Akure Zone ASUU, while addressing the press at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, said that the government should not do anything that would plunge the university system into unnecessary chaos over the shortfall in salary payment and the non-payment of salaries.

In a statement, jointly signed by Dr Alex Odiyi, Dr Bola Oniya, Dr Caleb Aboriade and Prof Olu Olufayo, ASUU said virtually all universities in the country are going through different percentages of shortfall in the payment of their staff salaries.

Reading the statement on behalf of the others, Odiyi said public universities in Nigeria have been experiencing worse reductions in salaries components of their allocation, leading to the payment of reduced salaries or paying salaries in fractions.

He disclosed that most federal universities, like the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife; FUTA; EKSU; University of Jos, Jos; University of Ibadan, Ibadan; University of Calabar, Calabar and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, lack the capacity to make up for the shortfall in the salary component.

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