Fresh Crisis Looms In Varsities As Lecturers Lament Salary Shortfalls

| FG shifted pay rise responsibility to varsities, ASUU leader claims

BY HENRY TYOHEMBA, Abuja, FRANCIS OKOYE, Maiduguri, ABU NMODU, Minna, ACHOR ABIMAJE, Jos, PATRICK OCHOGA, Benin, ANAYO ONUKWUGHA, Port Harcourt, ADEBAYO WAHEED, Ibadan, SAMUEL ABULUDE, Lagos, JOSUA DADA, Osogbo, FEMI OYEWESO, Abeokuta

Fresh concerns over the implementation of the 40 per cent salary increase for university lecturers have emerged across the federal university system, with some institutions unable to pay the full salary package.

The development, nearly eight months after the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) reached agreement on the increase, has seen some universities discontinue payments they had initially commenced, citing inadequate funds.

LEADERSHIP’s findings across some federal universities showed that institutions that began implementing the increase were forced to suspend it after their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) could no longer sustain the additional wage bill.

Top ASUU officials told our correspondents that following the signing of the renegotiated agreement by the federal government and the union on January 14, 2026, with the 40 per cent upward review of academic staff remuneration backdated to January 1, the government directed universities to fund the increase from their IGR.

None of the ASUU officials, however, could produce the purported federal government memo directing universities to do so.

The federal government had announced on February 1 that implementation of the increase had commenced and directed federal universities to incorporate the new salaries into their payroll systems. Despite this, implementation has remained uneven.

By August, several universities were yet to fully implement the increase, while some that had begun paying it had stopped. The development has prompted ASUU branches to issue ultimatums and demand compliance with the agreement.

Most university managements contacted by LEADERSHIP declined to explain the reasons for the shortfalls.

For institutions that have continued to pay their lecturers in full, senior ASUU officials expressed surprise at how their vice-chancellors had managed to sustain the payments despite the funding challenges.

How UNIBEN Blew The Lid On Half Salaries

Although some universities had reportedly been experiencing payment difficulties since May, the issue remained largely out of the public domain until the ASUU branch of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) raised the alarm on Monday.

Academic activities at UNIBEN were overshadowed by anxiety after lecturers received only half of their August salaries, while non-academic staff reportedly received their full salaries.

Sources at the university said the payment excluded the usual allowances, leaving many lecturers, particularly those servicing loans obtained through the university, distressed.

In a notice to members, the UNIBEN ASUU branch said it had met with the university administration over the development and urged members not to panic.

The notice, signed by the branch secretary, Dr L. O. Aimiyekagbon, said the union had been assured by the university authorities that additional salary alerts would be received.

Sources familiar with the matter, however, said the university paid the August salaries from its IGR following the federal government’s failure to release its monthly subvention to the institution.

Yesterday, the branch chairman, Enaruna Edosa, said the executive committee would meet before convening a congress to determine the union’s response.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, Edosa said members would ultimately decide the way forward.

“We are going to meet as the executive committee now to discuss the matter, and afterwards we will convene a congress where all members will participate and decide the way forward. It is our members who will guide us,” he said.

When contacted, the university’s public relations officer, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, declined to comment, saying the ASUU leadership was in a better position to speak on the matter.

At the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, academic staff last received the 40 per cent salary increase in May.

The chairman of the university’s ASUU branch, Prof. Lookman Oyewobi, said the development followed the federal government’s instruction that universities fund the increase from their internally generated funds.

He said the management had managed to cover the additional salary component from January to May before discontinuing the payment because it could no longer afford the cost.

According to Oyewobi, the university’s IGR could not be diverted to sustain the salary increase because the funds were tied to services charged students for specific purposes.

He said the university had received no additional federal allocation to cover the increase, leaving staff increasingly agitated.

Oyewobi said FUT Minna’s situation was relatively better because management had sustained the additional payment for five months, unlike many other universities that could not do so.

Asked whether salaries had been paid, the university’s head of Information, Lydia Legbo, simply said, “Salary was paid,” but declined to comment further.

In Borno State, the chairman of ASUU at the University of Maiduguri, Mohammed Waziri, said union members also received partial salaries in August.

Waziri explained that only 10 per cent of the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS), as well as professional allowances for members in veterinary and human medicine, was being paid.

He added that the university had paid members’ salaries for June, July and August, while reimbursement from the federal government remained outstanding.

The university’s public relations officer, Hajiya Amina Abdullahi, said the management was in a meeting when contacted and could not say when it would end.

She had not responded by the time of filing the report.

However, the chairman of ASUU, University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, Prof. Idowu Keinde, disputed the claim that the UNIBEN shortfall was caused by the university’s failure to receive federal allocation.

“It is not true that UNIBEN ASUU members got half salaries because the university did not get federal allocation. Those findings should be well verified. Back to your inquiry, we did not receive full salaries; in fact, no staff at UNILAG did, and it’s not because of federal allocations. Our National Executive Committee has taken note of this development and will tackle it,” he said.

At the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), the ASUU branch chairman, Dr Ola Olusegun Oyedele, said lecturers did not receive their full August salaries because the university excluded the Enhanced Academic Allowance (EAA).

Oyedele, who spoke with LEADERSHIP yesterday in Abeokuta, said FUNAAB management had paid only three months of the eight months of EAA arrears owed to lecturers.

“When the federal government released the five-month bailout fund, it was only two months that FUNAAB received because we are a specialised university. That was why the institution released the three-month EAA,” he added.

Minister’s Aide Directs Inquiry To NUC

The Federal Ministry of Education has directed inquiries into the delayed payment of August salaries to the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Asked about the situation at UNIBEN and the payment of half salaries, the special adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Education, Ikharo Attah, declined to provide details, directing the inquiry to the affected university’s public relations officer and possibly the NUC.

FUTA, UNIPORT, OAU Get Full Salaries

Despite the reports of salary shortfalls, the situation does not appear to be uniform across the federal university system.

The zonal coordinator of ASUU, Prof. Al-Amin Abdullahi, who is also a lecturer at the Federal University, Lafia, told LEADERSHIP that salaries were being paid at his institution.

“In my university, Federal University of Lafia, salary has been paid,” Abdullahi said.

He, however, said the Abuja Zone did not have statistics showing the number of federal universities that might have experienced similar difficulties.

At the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), ASUU members said they were unaware of any salary shortfalls among lecturers.

Although the university’s ASUU chairman, Prof. Emmanuel Ngoke, declined to respond to LEADERSHIP’s questions, a senior official of the association, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said neither lecturers at UNIPORT nor members in the union’s Owerri Zone had experienced any half-salary payments.

“University of Port Harcourt is under the Owerri zone, and we are yet to have any short payment of salaries among members of ASUU in the zone. We are yet to experience such a thing,” he said.

Lecturers at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, also confirmed receiving their full August salaries.

The institution’s ASUU chairman, Pius Mogaji, disclosed this while reacting to reports of half-salary payments at UNIBEN.

He said the situation did not apply to FUTA, where lecturers had received their full August salaries.

At Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, ASUU members had also received their salaries through August 2026.

The union’s chairman, Prof. Tony Odiwe, however, said the federal government had failed to cash-back the payments as agreed with ASUU.

“My vice-chancellor has been able to pay us our full salary till August. I don’t know how he is doing it; all I know is that our salaries are being paid. This is all I can say for now,” he said.

Similarly, the chairman of ASUU, University of Jos (UNIJOS) chapter, Prof. Jurbe Joseph Molwus, said lecturers at the university had continued to receive their full salary package.

He stressed that the half-salary situation did not apply to UNIJOS, but said the university’s ability to pay did not mean the federal government had remitted the necessary funds.

“It is just the ingenuity of the current leadership of the university under Prof. Tanko Ishaya. All the federal universities are suffering as a result of a lack of funding for the full package of their salaries,” he said.

ASUU national president, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, could not be reached for comment as his mobile line was switched off when this report was being filed yesterday.