The Federal Government has yet to release the withheld salaries of university lecturers, workers, and other employees of federal polytechnics and colleges of education despite the waiver granted by the President, Bola Tinubu, checks by Sunday PUNCH have revealed.
Tinubu in October approved a partial waiver of the no-work-no-pay order on striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities alongside other academic unions and ordered the release of salaries withheld for four months.
The President’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement, said that the waiver was granted invoking the principle of the presidential prerogative of mercy, and in recognition of the faithful implementation of terms that were agreed upon during the fruitful deliberations between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Ngelale stated that the waiver “will allow for the previously striking members of ASUU to receive four months of salary accruals out of the eight months of salary which was withheld during the eight-month industrial action undertaken by the union”.
The ASUU strike, which began on February 14, 2022, and ended on October 17, 2022, was the longest in the union’s history.
It would be recalled that the strike was declared over demands for improved funding for universities, increased salaries for lecturers, and better working conditions by the striking union.
Speaking with our correspondent, the chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof Gbolahan Bolarin, told our correspondent that the lecturers had not been paid.
“We have not received anything like that,” he said.
The National President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Muhammed Ibrahim, said, “If you are referring to the four-month salary backlog. It has not been paid yet.”
Similarly, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Anderson Ezeibe, also informed our correspondent that the arrears had not been paid.
The spokesperson of the National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission, Emma Njoku, when contacted by our correspondent, said the payment was not the responsibility of the agency.
Our correspondent could not reach any official at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for comments on the matter.
