“In some universities, a professor was paid N80,000 as salary, while some senior lecturers were paid N25,000.” – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has alleged that its members’ salaries are being paid by contractors to the Federal Government.

It also faulted the selective payment of salaries to its members with professors in some institutions receiving N80,000, while senior lecturers got N25,000 in June.

The President of ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, in an interview with The PUNCH faulted what he described as “amputated salary” as the lecturers did not know how much they would be paid next.

According to him, in some universities, lecturers are still owed between 14 and 16 months’ salaries.

He said, “You are also aware of the Earned Academic Allowance, which we have been owed since 2009. These are the issues that are still outstanding; some of our members are still owed up to 16 months’ salaries; some 14 months; some being paid what is referred to as amputated salary, which means you don’t know what you will be paid the next month.

“We talked about the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and today, we are very happy as a union that we are right. In June, a number of lecturers in Nigerian universities received different salaries.

“Some were paid double salaries; some were alleged to have been paid double salaries when only one month was paid. The government wrote to the universities that they had paid A, B, C and D double salaries. But we found out that only a few of those people were paid double salaries and I can be sure that by this July, my salary will not be paid.

“In some universities, a professor was paid N80,000 as salary, while some senior lecturers were paid N25,000. They did a lot of deductions. How will that person be able to go to work and teach?”

Osodeke added, “All they did was to deduct all sorts of things from their salaries without consulting them; those were the issues we raised. That cuts across academic, non-academic and every staff in the universities. Their salaries were distorted.

“We have challenged the government that there is no country in the world where the salaries of academics in a university is being paid from the ministry and they cannot name any and these salaries are being paid by contractors, people who come from anywhere; people who are looking for money and what they do is to ensure that our members come to Abuja to see how they can get some money from them.”