Academic activities inside the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) have grounded after lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) withdrew their services over unpaid June wages, describing the delay as unnecessary.
They said that the withdrawal of service is indefinitely, saying this is the only measure they could use to express their displeasure over the management decision to withhold their salary without any justification for the action.
The Chairman of the ATBU ASUU branch, Angulu Haruna, in an interview with newsmen yesterday, stressed that the lecturers have suspended all teaching duties indefinitely due to persistent salary delays by the Federal Government.
“We’ve officially withdrawn our services because of the continuous failure of the government to pay our salaries on time,” Haruna said on Friday. “While other government agencies are paid promptly, federal university workers are constantly sidelined.”
He alleged that the delays were a result of the union’s withdrawal from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), a move that has triggered what he described as targeted discrimination against university lecturers.
“Ordinarily, our salaries come in during the first week of the new month. But since we pulled out of IPPIS, we’ve experienced consistent delays,” he added. “We are clearly being treated unfairly compared to others who remain under the system.”
Further clarifying, the chairman stated that the union’s action was not a strike, but an “Active Non-Compliance” (ANC), a nationwide directive from ASUU’s National Executive Council.
“This is not a strike. It’s ANC, we come to work but withhold our core services. No teaching, no academic engagements,” he explained. “We haven’t shut down the campus. We’re present, but we won’t enter the classrooms until our dues are paid.”
He further stated that lecturers are prepared to resume duties immediately their salaries are paid. “Once we’re paid, we’ll return to our academic responsibilities,” he said.
Also commenting, former ATBU ASUU Chairman Ibrahim Inuwa decried the growing trend of delayed payments, which he linked to punitive measures for rejecting IPPIS.
“It appears we’re being punished for taking a stand,” Inuwa remarked. “There was a time we waited more than two weeks into a new month to get our pay.”
He echoed the position of the union: “Pay us, and we’ll go back to the classrooms. Until then, we’ll report to work but won’t teach.”
