ASUU may be going for another showdown with the Federal Government over half salaries paid to its members for October 2022.
There are indications that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, may go on another strike following the alleged payment of half salaries to the lecturers for the month of October 2022, by the Federal Government.
Also: Fresh Strike Looms As FG Pays ASUU Half Salaries For October 2022
As a result, the resumption of academic activities in the nation’s universities may become truncated once again as the union is set to summon an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC).
ASUU recently suspended its eight months of industrial action following interventions from the Court of Appeal, which upheld an earlier decision from the National Industrial Court, NIC.
No date has been fixed yet, but sources said that the decision to convene a meeting followed the surprise that greeted members of the union when some of them got an alert of half salaries in their accounts for the month of October 2022.
One of the academic staff members, who preferred anonymity said, “I was shocked when I received an alert from my bank and noticed it was half payment; they didn’t even talk about the backlog of the eight months of the strike.”
Also confirming the information, another source said “It is true, I received half, In fact, some professors received salaries of N121,000; we are waiting for the decision of the national body, we are very angry at the moment.”
ASUU National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, had earlier confirmed the development while granting an interview.
He had stated, “Half salaries were paid, no reasons were given whatsoever. We learnt that Ngige wrote the office of the Accountant General and Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system and told them to only pay us for the period when we called off the strike.
“We heard there was a letter to that effect but we haven’t gotten it yet. We are going to summon a meeting.”
But reacting to the development, the Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Education, Ben Bem Goong, was reported to have said, “We don’t pay salary at the Ministry of Education. Kindly direct your question to the office of the Accountant General.”
Beyond ASUU’s latest grievances, members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of University and Allied Institutions NASU, and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities SSANU, among others, have been pressurizing the government to pay their arrears of salaries for the eight months the strike lasted in the Nigerian universities.
UNIJOS ASUU issues stay-at-home orders to members
Newsonline gathered that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos chapter on Friday ordered its members to stay at home indefinitely, pending the payment of withheld salaries by the federal government.
The ASUU branch made this known in a statement signed by the branch chairperson, Professor Lazarus Maigoro, Punch reports.
The government had paid half salaries to the striking university lecturers.
The statement partly reads, “One of the issues agreed at the meeting was that 50% of the backlog of eight months arrears of our withheld salaries will be paid to our members immediately but as at the time of writing this press release, only 17 days prorated October salary was paid to our members by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
“Having stayed for about nine months running now, our members in the University of Jos considered this an insult to them by the Accountant General of the Federation.
