The ongoing salary renegotiation between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may collapse, as university lecturers have rejected a proposed 35% pay increase.
According to reports, ASUU’s 89 branches across public universities, during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, unanimously rejected the offer.
The union insists the government should adopt the salary structure recommended by the previous negotiation panel led by Prof. Nimi Briggs.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, confirmed that the proposal was rejected nationwide. According to him, “The Federal Government offered us a 35% salary increase.
When it was presented at our NEC meeting, none of the 89 ASUU branches agreed to it. All branches rejected it. So, for us, the offer is not acceptable.”
He added that the union will continue to push for the salary structure recommended by the Briggs committee, which in 2022 proposed a monthly salary of about N1.2 million for professors. At present, professors in public universities earn less than N500,000 monthly.
In contrast, the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) had suggested a lower N800,000 monthly salary for professors, representing a 50% increase, while the government dismissed the Briggs committee recommendations.
ASUU maintains that only the Briggs benchmark meets the needs of academic staff and reflects the economic realities in the country.
