The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Tuesday, said the government has approved a 23.5 per cent salary increase for lecturers, while a 3 per cent increment will be enjoyed by professors. He noted that this was what the federal government could afford at the moment.
The minister also disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) warned against signing agreements that the government will not be able to meet.
It will be recalled that the Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike for more than six months. Some of their demands include salary increments, the acceptance of UTAS for the University system as against IPPIS and revitalisation funds for Federal Universities.
During a meeting with Vice Chancellors and other stakeholders in the University system, Adamu said, “The Federal Government can only afford a 23.5% salary increase for all categories of the workforce in Federal Universities, except for the professorial cadre which will enjoy a 35% upward review”.
He also said that a sum of N150 billion will be provided for in the 2023 budget as funds for the revitalisation of federal universities which will be disbursed to theinstitutions in the first quarter of the year while a sum of N50 billion will be provided for in the 2023 budget for the payment of outstanding areas of earned academic allowances which will be paid in the first quarter of 2023.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, the pro-chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Professor Peter Okebukola, noted that the government was ready to go all out to ensure that the university lecturers return to school.
Meanwhile, ASSU has rejected the offer describing it “as inadequate to meet their respective demands needed to tackle the challenges confronting the university system.”
The union however demanded a 100 per cent salary increment from the federal government.