Amanze ChinonyeThe Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has issued a stern warning to the Federal Government over continued delays in the payment of salaries and allowances, threatening to withdraw services across federal polytechnics if the situation persists.
In a statement signed by its National President, Shammah Kpanja, the union expressed deep concern over what it described as a troubling trend of delayed payments that has plagued staff of federal tertiary institutions for the past eight months. Kpanja said the delays are gradually eroding the fragile industrial peace in the education sector and pushing lecturers to the brink.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“This call is made in the overall interest of the fragile industrial harmony in the tertiary education sector, particularly the polytechnics,” Kpanja stated. “No trade union will continue to watch its members go through these harrowing experiences every month, as the government continues to undermine its contractual obligations to workers.”
He warned that if the government fails to address the issue promptly, the union may have no option but to direct its members to withdraw from all affected institutions. “Our union may be forced to direct her members to stay away from duty in all affected polytechnics if the situation does not improve in the coming days and sustain the same until the salaries are paid; while adopting the same pattern at the end of each month going forward,” he added.
The statement, titled “Habitual Delay in Payment of Salaries Across Federal Polytechnics in Nigeria,” linked the ongoing delays to the transition from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) a process overseen by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
According to the union, “This new trend of subjecting staff of these institutions to the mental torture of enduring indeterminate periods of uncertainty concerning the release of the severely devalued pittance now referred to as salaries coincides with the transition of the tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payment platform to the GIFMIS platform.”
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ASUP said it has consistently reported the issue to the Office of the Accountant General, but with little or no improvement. The union lamented that this persistent hardship is forcing staff across federal polytechnics to live in financial distress.
“We are led to believe that the only plausible reason for this deliberate torture is the low value placed on the academic community by the government,” the statement said. “Both payment platforms are hosted by the Office of the Accountant General, and it is expected that the transition using essentially the same payroll information would be smooth and seamless. Eight months is too long a trial period. Only a government that places little or no value on education would treat its educators this way.”
Describing the situation as demeaning and unacceptable, the union condemned what it called “the undeserved treatment being meted out to workers in tertiary institutions,” especially in light of the worsening economic conditions in the country.
ASUP further decried the psychological and financial toll the salary delays are taking on its members, noting that lecturers are now being forced to borrow just to survive. “Workers in different tertiary institutions have been turned to beggars at the end of each month. Salaries have become meaningless, serving only to settle debts incurred in the course of surviving the previous month,” the union lamented.
In a strong rebuke of political leadership, the union also accused elected officials of ignoring the suffering of educators while engaging in wasteful spending and early political campaigns. “It is equally shameful that while the academic community is being punished with such penury, political leaders continue to entertain themselves in mindless opulence and power-grabbing activities for the next elections,” it said.
Describing the current state of affairs as “symptomatic of a terminally sick nation,” ASUP concluded with a renewed demand for the immediate payment of June 2025 salaries and a permanent end to the recurring delays in salary disbursement.
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