The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has given the Federal Government 21 days to honour its long-standing commitments under a previous agreement with the union.
ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja, announced this after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council in Abuja on Thursday, August 15.
Kpanja said the Federal Government had failed to release a circular to implement the payment of the Peculiar Academic Allowance through the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC).
He explained that the allowance was part of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement. “Instead of making provisions for payment, it was removed from the budgeting template, and the Federal Ministry of Education has failed to act decisively,” he said.
The union also lamented that the 25% and 35% salary review arrears, covering 12 months and already captured in the budget, were still unpaid. “The money is in the budget but has not been released for reasons we cannot comprehend,” Kpanja noted.
ASUP’s NEC also opposed the National Board for Technical Education’s (NBTE) continued outsourcing of accreditation for polytechnics despite earlier assurances to stop.
“In view of these issues, we have resolved to issue a 21-day ultimatum to Government to address them satisfactorily. Failure to use this window may lead to a trade dispute and withdrawal of services of our members nationwide,” Kpanja warned.
This isn’t the first time ASUP has gone head-to-head with the government. In 2021, the union embarked on a 65-day strike over unpaid arrears and implementation delays, disrupting academic calendars across dozens of polytechnics.
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