Federal Government has released the sum of N40 billion for the payment of earned academic allowances for varsity lecturers and earned allowances for non-academic staff.
This was made known by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who stated that the government may release N30 billion revitalisation funds to varsities by the end of this month.
Dr Ngige reiterated that the Federal Government has kept faith with the agreement it made with the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Ngige also stated how the N40 billion will be shared, he said;
‘Of the N40 billion, about N10 billion was voted for the payment of earned allowances of members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and technologists.
Although the non-academic staff have threatened strike over the sharing formula by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the government said when a similar payment was made in 2019, they got N8 billion.’
According to a note by Vanguard, as at 31st December, 2020, the Federal Government failed to fulfil three agreements reached with the union. One, the Federal Government promised to release N40billion Earned Academic/Earned Allowances to offset part of the outstanding claims of the members of all registered Trade Union in the Universities on or before December 31, 2020 but it did not.
Two, lecturers received only two months salaries out of six months (including December 2020 salaries) owed lecturers. Not all lecturers were even paid the two months. In the University of Ibadan for example, a list of over 120 lecturers who did not receive payments for the two months is being compiled.
In some other universities, some have not received anything since February 2020! Three, payment of deducted check-off dues of the union ought to start on or before December 31, 2020 as promised but the Federal Government also failed to deliver! It is because of these early breaches that this piece brings the public into the contents of the agreement Federal Government signed with ASUU before the conditional suspension of the strike on December 24, 2020.
