The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), representing non-teaching members of staff across universities in the country, has called on President Bola Tinubu to promptly release their four-month withheld salaries from the immediate past administration.
During their National Executive Council meeting, SSANU members pleaded for the funds, stating that it would enable their members to celebrate Christmas as expected. Mohammed Ibrahim, the President of the association, conveyed the plea in a statement released after the meeting and also urged President Tinubu to fulfill his promise of the N35,000 wage award.
While President Tinubu had previously ordered the release of the withheld salaries a few weeks ago, both academic and non-academic staff are yet to receive the payment.
In the statement, Ibrahim said, “NEC-in-session acknowledged the approval by the government to pay the four months’ salaries of our members withheld as a result of the last industrial action embarked by the Union. NEC-in-session deliberated on the undue delay by the government in paying the four months’ salaries and therefore urged the government to pay the money without further delay. This is to boost the already fading confidence of our members in the government.”
The SSANU leader also expressed support for the decision to exempt all tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform, a move recently celebrated by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). He encouraged the government to consult university management and labor unions for a workable and acceptable approach in transitioning to the new payment system.
Regarding the promised wage award by the Federal Government, Ibrahim stated, “NEC-in-session recalls the approval of the government to increase the salaries of university workers by 25% and 35%. Though this proposal is a far cry from the salary increase demanded by SSANU, we regarded it as an award by the government and therefore expected that the award should have been implemented by now.”
