ASUP Decries Eight-month Salary Delay In Federal Tertiary Institutions

…may direct members to boycott work if the delay persists

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has expressed deep concern over the persistent delay in the payment of salaries to staff of federal tertiary institutions, describing the situation as unacceptable.

In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja and signed by its National President, Shammah Kpanja, the union attributed the delays to the ongoing transition from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS).

Kpanja condemned what he described as the “undeserved treatment being meted out to workers in tertiary institutions,” especially at a time when the country is grappling with severe economic hardship.

ASUP called on the federal government to urgently release the June salaries of affected workers, stressing that further delays would only deepen the financial strain on academic staff and disrupt the operations of the institutions.

The statement said, “Our Union has observed a trend in the delay in payment of staff salaries across Federal Tertiary Institutions in the country in the last eight months. This new trend of subjecting staff of these institutions to the mental torture of enduring indeterminate periods of uncertainty concerning the release of the severely devalued pittance now referred to as salaries coincides with the transition of the tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payment platform to the GIFMIS platform.

“Role players in the responsibility chain have consistently placed the blame on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, attributing the same to the delay in the funding of the different institutions for the salaries over these eight months. We have consistently complained formally to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation before now without the desired improvement, leaving staff of different Federal Polytechnics in distress at the end of each month.

“We are led to believe that the only plausible reason for this deliberate torture is the low value placed on the academic community by the government. This is because both payment platforms are hosted by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and it is expected that the transition between the payment platforms and using essentially the same payroll information will be smooth and flawless. Eight months is too long a trial period for the transition, and it is only a government that places low value on education that will treat staff of tertiary education institutions in this manner.

“Our union condemns this undeserved treatment being meted out to workers in the tertiary institutions, particularly in a difficult economy like ours. Workers in different tertiary institutions have been turned into beggars at the end of each month, with the worthless salaries only serving to service debts incurred in the course of each month. It is equally shameful that while the academic community is being punished with such penury, political leaders continue to entertain themselves in mindless opulence and power-grabbing activities for the next elections. This is unfortunate and symptomatic of a terminally sick nation.

“We hereby renew our calls for the release of June 2025 salaries to tertiary institutions in the country without any further delay and a departure from this new trend of delay in salary payments in the coming months. This call is made in the overall interest of the fragile industrial harmony in the tertiary education sector, particularly the Polytechnics, as no trade union will continue to watch its members go through these harrowing experiences every month as the government continues to undermine its contractual obligations to workers at the end of each month.

“Our union may be forced to direct its members to stay away from all affected Polytechnics if the situation does not improve in the coming days and sustain the same until the salaries are paid, while adopting the same pattern at the end of each month going forward.”