President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to direct the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige to immediately reverse the deduction in the salaries of university lecturers.
The Federal Government paid half-salaries to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for the month of October 2022. Some professors reportedly received salaries ranging from N71,000 to N121,000 for October.
Justifying the decision, Ngige said ASUU members were paid their October salary pro-rata. Pro-rata was done because the lecturers cannot be paid for work not done.
But in a statement on Sunday, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) knocked the Federal Government for not paying the varsity teachers in full.
SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, also asked President Buhari to direct “the acting Accountant General of the Federation, Sylva Okolieaboh to immediately reverse the apparently illegal deductions from the salaries of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for October 2022.”
The rights group wants the Federal Government “to pay ASUU members full salaries for the duration of their strike action.”
“Paying half salaries to ASUU members solely for exercising their human rights is patently unlawful and incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international standards,” the statement read.
