FG explains why university teachers were paid half-salary in October
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Federal Government has explained why it failed to pay full salaries to lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
In a statement to clarify the contentious issue, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment explained that members of ASUU were paid their October salary pro-rata, stressing that the teachers could not have been paid for work not done.
The statement further clarified that the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, never directed the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the university lecturers half salaries.
The statement reads in part; “Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, asking ASUU to go back to work, the leadership of the union wrote to the Minister, informing him that they had suspended the strike. The Federal Ministry of Education wrote to him in a similar vein and our labour inspectors in various states also confirmed that they had resumed work.
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“So, the Minister wrote to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, directing that their salaries should be restored. They were paid in pro-rata for the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action. Pro-rata was done because you cannot pay them for work not done. Everybody’s hands are tied.”
The ministry equally faulted a statement by the Chairperson of ASUU, Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto branch, Muhammad N. Al-Mustapha, accusing the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of the union.
“Those obviously being referred to by the UDUS ASUU chairperson were members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association who abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU because they abhorred the incessant strikes by the union and its grave effects on medical education in Nigeria and production of more medical doctors.
“Accusing the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of ASUU, is a barefaced distortion of facts. Mustapha said he received information that a segment of the staff in the College of Health Sciences has been paid seven months of their withheld salaries from March to September, due to a letter written to the Minister of Finance, instructing the exemption of the under-listed staff on the application of ‘No Work, No Pay’ rule.
“To set the records straight, the medical lecturers who are being referred to by the Chairperson of the ASUU UDUS branch, abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU. This has been corroborated in a press statement by the Chairman, MDCAN UdUS, Dr B. Jubrin and Secretary, Dr I. G Ango, on Friday, November 4, 2022.”
The half-salary is already causing confusion in the academic community, raising fears of another strike by the lecturers. Reports indicate that the ASUU leadership has summoned the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Union to deliberate on the matter and decide on the next line of action. It was also gathered that the ASUU members of the University of Jos, have resolved to stay away from classes pending when the matter is sorted out.