FG asked to release 2 months’ withheld salaries

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of non-teaching university staff has called on the Federal Government to promptly release the two months’ withheld salaries owed to its members.

Members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI) in Ebonyi State staged a protest on Thursday to press home their demands.

The demonstrators marched to the office of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Sunday Elom, to present their complaints.

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They displayed placards bearing inscriptions such as “FG, pay us our two months’ withheld salaries,” and “No payment of third-party deductions of the two months’ salary arrears.”Other messages read: “Constitution renegotiation is not enough; let the committee commence work immediately; delay, it is dangerous,” and “We will not agree until our two months’ withheld salaries are paid.”

Mr Onyebuchi Mpamugo, SSANU chairman at the university, said the payment had become urgent to avert another round of industrial unrest across the nation’s universities.

“We are protesting based on the national directive. We gathered for a one-day protest to drive home the union’s demand, and our demand is not too much for the Federal Government to do.

The Federal Government should facilitate the work of the constituted committee and expedite actions on the needful. We want our withheld two months’ salaries to be paid.

We went on strike in 2022, and strike action is the right of workers; the federal government has no right to withhold our salaries. So, we are begging them to kindly pay us our salaries,” he added.

Also speaking, Mr Chibuike Igwe, NASU chairman, urged members to remain steadfast, stressing that “freedom comes by struggle.”

Igwe noted that the national leadership of the union had given the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum to address all pending demands or risk industrial action.

He lamented the hardship facing members and encouraged them to stay united and focused.

“Look at the economy in the country. It is our right to demand our money,” he said.

Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, represented by Prof. Augustine Ibegbu, Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Science, appealed for calm and assured the protesters that their grievances would be communicated to the appropriate authorities.

“We have heard your demands, have noted all the demands, and I promised that I will take them to the right table,” he said.