By Peter Omopo
Abuja, June 30, 2025 — The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has issued a stern warning to the Federal Government over the non-payment of withheld salaries and persistent delays in salary disbursement, threatening potential industrial action if its demands are not addressed.
At its 51st National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Kano State, the union called for the immediate release of the remaining two months’ withheld salaries of its members who participated in the 2022 nationwide strike.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by its National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU expressed frustration over what it described as unfair treatment of non-teaching staff in federal universities.
The union condemned the irregular payment of salaries, often weeks after other federal workers had received theirs, and demanded the harmonisation of salary disbursements across all federal and state institutions.
“The persistent delay in paying our members, coupled with the continued silence on critical welfare issues, is both unjust and unacceptable,” the communiqué read.
SSANU also criticised the federal government’s Renegotiation Committee for failing to initiate discussions on the long-pending 2009 FG/SSANU Agreement. The union urged the immediate resumption and conclusion of the renegotiation process to resolve longstanding grievances and avoid disruption in the university system.
Furthermore, SSANU decried the lopsided allocation of the ₦50 billion Earned Allowance, of which only ₦10 billion (20%) was allocated to non-teaching staff under the Joint Action Committee comprising SSANU, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
“This allocation is discriminatory and fails to recognise the critical contributions of our members to the functioning of Nigerian universities. It also contravenes the Memorandum of Understanding signed with NASU and SSANU in August 2022,” the union stated.
The communiqué also criticised the government’s continued disregard for previously signed Memoranda of Understanding and Action, as well as collectively bargained agreements.
SSANU warned that unless these concerns are urgently addressed, the union may be compelled to take decisive steps to protect the interests and welfare of its members across Nigeria’s university system.
