The federal government has insisted on a 35% increment in salary for university professors.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu made the intention of the government known on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking during a meeting with vice-chancellors and other university stakeholders.
Adamu said the federal government could only afford a 23.5 per cent salary increase for lecturers, while professors will enjoy a 35% increment.
The minister also noted that President Muhammadu Buhari disapproved of signing agreements which the government will not be able to fulfil.
He said, “The Federal Government can only afford a 23.5% salary increase for all categories of the workforce in Federal Universities, except for the professorial cadre which will enjoy a 35% upward review.
“Henceforth, allowances that pertain to ad-hoc duties of the academic and non-academic staff shall be paid as at when due by the Governing Councils of Universities to which such services are rendered and to the staff who perform them.
“That a sum of 150 billion Naira shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget as funds for the revitalization of Federal Universities, to be disbursed to the Institutions in the First Quarter of the year, and that a sum of 50 billion Naira shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget for the payment of outstanding areas of earned academic allowances, to be paid in the First Quarter of the year”.
Also speaking at the end of the meeting, the pro-chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Professor Peter Okebukola, noted that the government was ready to go all out to ensure that the university lecturers shelve the seven months strike.
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