Withheld salaries: SSANU vows to shut varsities

The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and other Allied Institutions has threatened to shut down the university system if their withheld salaries are not paid.

These salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari implemented a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy during a four-month strike by SSANU and NASU in 2022.

In an interview, the National President of SSANU and NASU, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, stated that in November 2023 and January 2024, the Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman Tahir promised to pay the union’s withheld salaries.

He also mentioned that three weeks ago, President Bola Tinubu instructed that the union’s withheld salaries to be paid, but as of now, they have not received any payments.

A report on Tribune Online stated that President Bola Tinubu had directed the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun, and Education, Tahir, to explore ways to pay the four months’ salaries withheld from SSANU and NASU.

Ibrahim lamented that the union halted its protest due to the planned EndBadGovernance protest and insecurity in the country.

He indicated that their next step might be to shut down the universities if the issue was not resolved.

He said, “We are genuinely perplexed that the President issued an order for payment to be made to SSANU and NASU, yet three weeks later, there’s still no action. Members are unhappy, frustrated, and complaining. We’re repeatedly told that ‘work is in progress,’ but what work? This is an electronic payment system—these tasks can be completed in 48 hours. The records are already in place, and these are withheld salaries; everything is in the IT office with the Accountant General. So, what’s the hold-up? We only suspended our indefinite strike due to the current security situation in the country, but if this continues, we may have no choice but to shut down the system completely.”