The Gombe State Executive Council has approved the payment of ₦682,467,338.66 in arrears to Staff of Gombe State University.
This development follows the strike declared on September 11 by the university’s Academic Staff Union, in response to the government’s failure to meet several demands.
These included non-implementation of the 2021 Memorandum of Action, inadequate university funding, unpaid Earned Academic Allowances, and the lack of a structured training sponsorship for academic staff.
The strike later expanded as other unions, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), joined in, leading to a halt in academic activities.
With this new payment, the total amount approved for the university stands at ₦947,669,909.13, following an earlier payment of ₦255,222,570.47 for outstanding promotion arrears.
Last week, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya inaugurated a high-powered negotiation team, led by Deputy Governor, Manassah Daniel Jatau, to address the ongoing strike.
Jatau announced after the Executive Council Meeting, Chaired by Governor Yahaya that with this recent approval, the state government had cleared all promotion arrears owed to the university staff.
He further explained that the Earned Academic Allowances were inherited from the previous administration, but the council’s approval of ₦682.4 million, in addition to the earlier payments, would ensure that all obligations had been met.
Jatau also noted that the increased university funding and the implementation of the new ₦71,500 minimum wage, would further impact the salary scale.
He is hopeful that the university staff would now resume their duties, justifying the government’s financial commitment to the institution.
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