Delay in the payment of salaries of workers in federal universities may upset the present industrial peace in the ivory towers, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has said.

The union stated that its members have been experiencing delays in the payment of their salaries, especially since they were migrated to the Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform.

Conveying its members’ grievances via a letter to the Accountant General of the Federation, SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, called for swift action to correct the anomaly.

The letter, ‘Concern over the consistent delay in the payment of monthly salaries of university workers’, expressed dismay over the persistent delay since the university-based unions exited the widely criticised Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform.

Ibrahim explained that the continuous delay in salary payment to SSANU members is in breach of the 2022 agreement reached between the Joint Action Committee, JAC of SSANU/NASU and the Federal Government, which led to the suspension of the prolonged strike action.

In the letter which was copied to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Mohammed Dingyadi, and the Executive Secretary, the National Universities Commission (NUC), he stated that part of the 2022 agreement that led to the suspension of the strike was the assurance that no member of the unions that took part in the strike would be victimized in any form.

The letter said: “The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) writes to express our deep concern over the consistent delay in the payment of monthly salaries of university workers, particularly since our exit from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). It is regrettable that, since our exit from IPPIS, the salaries of our members are often paid two weeks after salaries have been disbursed to other federal workers. This pattern has continued unabated and has become a source of anxiety and resentment among our members. We view this delay not only as an administrative lapse but as a clear act of discrimination against our members.

“We wish to remind your esteemed office that a key component of the agreement reached between the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU/NASU and the Federal Government in 2022—which led to the suspension of our last industrial action—was the assurance that no member of the unions that took part in the strike would be victimized in any form.”

The union declared that the delay is not only unacceptable but also threatens the fragile industrial peace currently being enjoyed in the federal universities.