SSANU Threatens Protest As FG Pays ASUU Withheld Salaries

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has issued a stark warning that it will halt activities across universities nationwide unless the withheld salaries of its members are released.

This declaration comes in response to the Federal Government’s decision to exclude SSANU members from recent salary payments, which has sparked considerable discontent within the union.

The controversy began after the Federal Government initiated payments to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members on Monday, leaving out SSANU.

Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, the chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, in a chat with Punch confirmed the commencement of these payments, stating, “Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in.”

The withheld salaries in question date back to a prolonged strike in 2022, lasting eight months, during which both ASUU and SSANU members ceased work.

The action led to former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration enforcing a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy against the striking unions.

In a turn of events, President Bola Tinubu, in October 2023, authorized the release of four out of the eight months of ASUU’s withheld salaries, yet SSANU remained noticeably sidelined.

The National President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, expressed his dismay in an interview with The PUNCH, highlighting the perceived injustice of the situation.

Ibrahim clarified that SSANU’s grievance was not with ASUU receiving their dues but with the exclusion of SSANU from similar compensations. “It was a great injustice against SSANU,” he remarked.

Ibrahim said, “This is just terrible, we found out that only ASUU’s payment was approved. As it is, there is tension on all the campuses we are not angry that they are paying ASUU, but they should know that it is not only ASUU that went on strike.

“Why should our case be different? The government should pay everyone who works in the university. We can’t guarantee continuous peace in our universities. We have written to the Chief of Staff and Minister of Education, and we escalated it to Nigeria Labour Congress. There is a palpable danger if SSANU are not paid their backlog.”

He also said it was confirmed at the office of the Accountant General and IPPIS that only ASUU’s payment was approved.

He said, “We found out at the Chief Accountant General office that it was only ASUU that was approved, we also have confirmation from IPPIS that the payment does not include SSANU.”

He hinted that SSANU members would meet today (Tuesday) to decide on the development.

Ibrahim said, “Our members will meet tonight, or tomorrow morning to decide. We are under pressure; this is a clear injustice as no university can operate without the non-teaching staff.”

Also, National Vice-President, SSANU, Abdussobur Salaam, said, “The Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU should therefore not be held responsible should the wheel of administration and corporate governance be grounded to a halt, as we have exercised enough patience with the government, especially in the face of the harsh economic conditions occasioned by policies of the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”