The Federal Government has commenced the payment of the withheld salaries of academics under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Multiple sources in the academic sector confirmed the development to our correspondent on Monday.
Confirming the development to The PUNCH, the Chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, said: “Yes, it is true.
“Payment has started rolling in.”
Recall that President Bola Tinubu Tinubu had in October 2023 approved the release of four of the eight months’ ASUU withheld salaries of the workers.
The salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a “No Work, No Pay policy” against some university-based unions that embarked on a strike that lasted eight months in 2022.
According to the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, the government, recently, has increased the university workers’ salaries by 35 percent.
Mamman also said the government has granted autonomy to the universities by removing them from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System.