FG releases funds for payment of NASU, retirees’ entitlements

• Union announces suspension of indefinite strike from Tuesday, 5 November.

The Federal Government has released funds for payment of withheld salaries of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Federal Universities (NASU).

Mr Bawa Mokwa, the Director, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) made this known in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

According to Mokwa, the Federal Government also released funds for payment of benefits to retirees under the Nigerian Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector (NUPCPS).

He said that payments to NASU had commenced, adding that many members had confirmed receipt.

He reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to efficiently cater for the well-being of Nigerian workers and retirees.

Gentechnew reported that NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had commenced a nationwide strike on Monday.

The SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, said that the strike would continue for the next seven days unless the government addressed the grievances raised by the unions.

The unions had earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum, urging the Federal Government to rectify the disparities in the payments among universities’ unions.

Meanwhile, the striking members of the non-academic staff of Nigerian public universities have announced the suspension of their indefinite strike from Tuesday, 5 November.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) disclosed this in a strike update sent to the chairpersons of branches across the country on Sunday.

The suspension comes a day after the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) said payments to members of the unions “had commenced and many have confirmed receipt.”

Both unions had on Sunday announced an indefinite strike that began on Monday after the government failed to pay the union’s four months withheld salaries from 2022.

In an attempt to end the strike, the outgoing Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, and the ministry’s permanent secretary, Nasir Gwarzo, met with the leadership of the unions on Thursday.

But the meeting ended in a deadlock, according to the unions, as they refused to shift ground. They insisted that the strike would only be suspended after their members received the withheld salaries.

A Sunday statement jointly signed by SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi said the decision to suspend the strike followed commitments secured after engagements with the Ministers of Education and Finance.

The unions noted that the government has committed to the payment of two of the four months’ salaries.

According to the statement, payment for the first month would be made at the end of October while the second month would be paid at the end of November.

The unions, therefore, suspended the strike for a month, starting from Tuesday, 5 November, it said.