Taraba Varsity Lecturers Earn Less Than Peers In Nigeria – ASUU

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Taraba State University (TSU) chapter, has faulted claims that the institution’s lecturers are the highest paid in Nigeria.

The union insisted that salary comparisons with other universities revealed significant disparities in remuneration across universities nationwide.

The chairman ASUU-TSU branch, Dr Joshua Garba Mbave, in a statement he issued in Jalingo, called on the state government to settle salary arrears dating back to January 2026 and fully implement the 2025 agreement between the federal government and the union.

He said the claims circulating on social media misrepresented the financial realities facing the state-owned university’s academic staff.

Mbave cited salary figures from selected universities, arguing that TSU lecturers earn considerably less than their counterparts in some institutions across the country.

According to him, a graduate assistant on CONUASS 01, Step 1, earns N237,331.33 at TSU, compared with N559,577.49 at Rivers State University and N503,574 at Delta State University, Abraka.

He further stated that a professor on CONUASS 07, Step 10, earns N1,002,801.94 at TSU, against N3,355,231.10 at Rivers State University and N1,667,280 at Delta State University.

The union chairman also put the monthly salary of a professor on CONUASS 07, Step 7, at TSU at N984,806.69, compared with N1,252,419.90 at Benue State University.

Mbave said the figures contradicted the narrative that TSU academic staff were the highest-paid university workers in the country.

He also alleged that the state government had failed to implement the 30% National Minimum Wage adjustment and the 25% / 35% wage awards for university workers, adding that no arrears had been paid for the adjustments.

He explained that although the 70% National Minimum Wage adjustment was subsequently implemented, university staff had sacrificed the arrears arising from the earlier adjustments to maintain industrial harmony.

The ASUU chairman further cited a report submitted by a state government fact-finding team on 24 September 2026, concerning the implementation of the Consolidated Academic/Teaching Allowance (CATA) and Consolidated Non-Teaching Allowance (CONTTA).

He said the report showed that universities in the North-East, including Gombe State University, Sa’adu Zungur University in Bauchi State, Yobe State University and Adamawa State University, had fully implemented the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement.

According to him, other states, including Bauchi, had implemented the relevant wage adjustments and allowances without waiting for other states to act or constituting committees to verify compliance.

Dr Mbave urged the media and the public to disregard claims portraying TSU lecturers as the highest paid academics in Nigeria, insisting that the university’s salary structure should be assessed against verifiable figures.

He called on Governor Agbu Kefas’s administration to fully implement the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement and clear all outstanding salary arrears from January 2026.