FG Orders Varsities to Submit Data on Unpaid Salaries, Arrears, and Deductions

The Federal Ministry of Education has directed vice chancellors of federal universities to submit comprehensive figures of unpaid salaries, promotion arrears, pension backlogs, and third-party deductions. The request was communicated through the National Universities Commission in a memo signed by the Deputy Director of Universities at the ministry, J.N. Akpa.

The directive follows the announcement by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, that ₦2.3 billion has been released for the payment of outstanding promotion arrears owed to lecturers. The memo instructed all vice chancellors to provide “the outstanding promotion arrears, salaries, third-party deductions, and pension arrears figures” in both soft and hard copies using an Excel table format.

According to the ministry, the information will enable the Nigerian University Pension Management Company to process the pending payments efficiently.

Alausa, in a statement issued last week by the ministry’s spokesperson, Folasade Boriowo, confirmed that the ₦2.3 billion represents Batch 8 of salary and promotion arrears processed through the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. He explained that the payment reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to resolving long-standing welfare issues in the tertiary education sector in a transparent and sustainable way.

“A total of ₦2.31 billion, representing Batch 8 salary and promotion arrears, has been released. Benefiting institutions should start receiving payment alerts soon” Alausa said.

The minister also disclosed that the government is finalising the release of third-party non-statutory deductions and pending pension remittances, which will be concluded in the coming days.

To improve predictability and consistency in payments, Alausa announced that the Earned Academic Allowance will be fully integrated into university staff salaries beginning in 2026. He added that additional funds have been disbursed under the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities initiative, with new budgetary provisions secured for its continuation.

“The Federal Ministry of Education assures that all these engagements are being pursued sincerely and in good faith,” he stated.

This development addresses some of the major issues behind the long-standing friction between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government.

ASUU recently suspended a two-week warning strike following mediation by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the National Assembly. However, several of the union’s demands remain unresolved, including the payment of withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries, revitalisation funding for universities, the implementation of the renegotiated 2009 ASUU–FG Agreement, and the clearance of outstanding promotion arrears and cooperative deductions.

The most recent renegotiation committee, chaired by Yayale Ahmed, submitted its report in December 2024, but implementation has yet to begin.