Salary Payment: ASSU-ABSU Faults Otti’s Claims, Says Governor Not Sincere

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Academic Staff Union Of Universities, ASUU, Abia State University, ABSU, Chapter, has disputed  claims by Abia State Government that it is not owing the Staff of the Institution.

The Source reports that Governor Alex Otti had on Friday, June 21 ,2024, during a Media chat, insisted that the State Government has been religious in meeting its monthly payment obligations to the State workforce, including staffers of the University and other MDAs .

Specifically, Governor Otti,had noted that as at the time of the Media interaction (Friday night), legitimate staff members of the  University would have gotten alerts from their various banks for April and May salaries.

But, in a swift reaction, the ASUU -ABSU, on Saturday, June 22, faulted the claim, and cautioned against the continued politicization of  the issue of salary payments in the institution.

In a statement issued jointly by Dr Chidi Mba and Dr Victor Obisike, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the umbrella body of ABSU teaching staff, called for a regime of transparency and accountability in the handling of the issue of salary payments to the University workers.

Following below is the ASUU-ABSU full statement

“Following the recent statement from the Government of Abia State that all Abia State University (ABSU) staff have received their April and May salaries, we, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, ABSU Chapter, wish to clarify and state the actual situation regarding salary payments in the University.

“Contrary to Government’s announcement and news circulating in the social media, the reality is starkly different. It is only a handful of Staff who have their salary accounts with commercial banks that have received their April salary and fewer have received their May salary. Very alarming are instances where the few staff who received their May salary did not receive their April salary in the same bank.

“Painfully, some of the Staff who received either April or May salary had unexplained deductions ranging between eight (8) to Fifty Three (53) Thousand Naira made on the paid one month salary at source.

“Moreover, NONE of the majority of the staff whose salaries account are domiciled with the ABSU Microfinance bank and teaching staff of Abia State University Teaching Hospital has received any payments for either April or May and this has caused significant financial strain, panic and uncertainty among the Staff.

“With this staggered payment system, the Unions in the university cannot ascertain the status of their Check-off dues which is usually deducted at the source of payment.

“Furthermore, it is important to highlight that our 11months outstanding salary arrears, remain unpaid. Despite repeated assurances, not a single month of these arrears has been settled.

“We urge the Government officials to refrain from politicizing the issue of salary payments in ABSU as people’s health, family needs and other critical issues like workers productivity are dependent on it.

“It is imperative that the government acknowledges the financial hardships faced by the university staff and takes immediate action to ensure that all outstanding salaries, including the arrears, are paid promptly and in full.

“We seek transparency and accountability from the Government in handling this matter and hope for a swift resolution to alleviate the financial distress faced by the staff of ABSU.

“We want to use this opportunity to appeal to our dear Governor and Visitor to our University, His Excellency, Dr Alex Chioma Oti, OFR, who means well for the only State-owned University, and has left a standing instruction to pay all workers of the State government not later than 28th of every month, to quickly look into this issue by calling the attention of the concerned officials, so as not to truncate his good intentions for the State workforce.”