The Federal Government has announced that members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and the Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU, will receive half of their withheld salaries if President Bola Tinubu approves the payment of their salary arrears.
Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, disclosed this on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
The minister stated that non-academic university staff workers would not be on strike for the same duration in 2022 as their academic counterparts.
He claimed that the administration had done everything necessary to provide relief for them.
When asked what had caused the delay in payment to NASU and SSANU members, Mamman said, “No, it has not been approved.
“There is a court judgement on no work, no pay. ASUU getting four months’ pay was actually a discretion and decision on the part of the President. So, it doesn’t automatically transfer (to NASU and SSANU) but the matter is under consideration.
“I don’t think it is safe to put a time on it but it’s safer to say that we are on it and we are pushing.”
While speaking on the claim of discrimination by NASU and SSANU, the minister said, “That cannot be right, there is no rating. These are people working in the same terrain, they are doing different things but all working towards the same goal.”
In March, SSANU and NASU members went on a one-week warning strike to protest against Federal Government withholding their pay. The two unions criticised the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while ignoring non-academic unions.
All unions had planned an eight-month strike in 2022 to advocate for some of their objectives, including an improved welfare package.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration subsequently implemented a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against the unions, but President Bola Tinubu allowed the payment of four of the eight months’ withheld salaries in October.
SSANU and NASU accused the Federal Government of unfair treatment and discrimination by neglecting to pay them equally with their academic colleagues.