ATBU: ASUU members suspend duties over delayed salary payment

Academic staff members under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi have announced the suspension of their services until further notice.

This decision comes as a result of the federal government’s failure to pay its June salaries on schedule.

Dr Angulu Haruna, the Chairperson of ASUU at the ATBU Bauchi Branch, announced the withdrawal of services during a media briefing at the Union’s Secretariat on Friday. He confirmed that the union had formally suspended its services.

Dr Haruna further stated that the Federal Government’s continued delay in salary payments seems intentional, suggesting that other organisations are being prioritised over ASUU.

According to him, “Usually, our salaries always span into the first week of the next month. While other government organisations are being paid, the Federal Universities would be left out and not be paid.”

He stressed that “Whenever we asked, they’ll always tell us that it is because we migrated from the IPPIS, and we see that there is a preferential treatment against us but in favour of other organisations.”

The ASUU Chairperson disclosed that “During one of our National Executive Council Meetings, it was resolved that if the government fails to pay our salaries between the 1st and 3rd of the next month, the branches have been directed to activate the ANC.”

According to him, “This is the Active Non-Compliance. This means that we will come to work, but we will withdraw our services; we will not enter the classrooms to teach. We will not attend to our primary duties, and that is the situation we are currently in at the moment.”

Dr Haruna clarified that the union’s current stance should not be seen as a strike but rather as the execution of a directive from its National Secretariat to compel the government to meet its obligations to university lecturers.

He said, “This one is not a strike action. This ANC means that we are active but we are not complying to our primary duties. We are not attending to the services that are expected of us. We did not close down the school and as you can see, we left the comfort of our homes and are here.”

According to him, “This action will continue until the Federal Government did the needful and pay us our salaries. As I speak with you, if our salaries are paid at this moment, we will return to the classrooms to teach.”

Also speaking, the immediate past Chairperson of the Branch, Dr Ibrahim Inuwa, remarked that it has now become customary for lecturers not to be paid on time.

Ibrahim Inuwa said, “Going by what is happening, it looks to us as if they are trying to punish us for pulling out of the IPPIS and this is very unfortunate.”

According to him, “There was a month we spent up to two weeks into the next month before we were paid our salaries. If they pay us, we will resume our work but for now, we are not entering the classrooms to teach but we will definitely go to work.”