CONUA Denies Payment of 8 Months Salary Arrears To It’s Members
Niyi Sunmonu, the national coordinator of CONUA, has denied the widely circulated claim that the Federal Government had reimbursed the parallel academic union for its 8 Months withheld salaries and benefits.
The breakaway faction of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Congress of University Academics (CONUA), denied receiving their eight months’ worth of unpaid salaries from the Nigerian government.
In a circular sent on Sunday, the union demanded that the government return the payments that had been withheld from its members, claiming that paying only half of their members’ earnings for October was unfair.
“Congress of University Academics (CONUA) hereby calls on the Federal Government to pay members of the union’s withheld salaries without delay,” the statement states.
“We have made it clear many times as a union that we did not participate in the strike called by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
“We first made this fact clear in a letter we addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment in April 2022. And, at a press conference we addressed in Abuja on August 19, 2022, we also stated it categorically that, as a union, we were not on strike, and, this being the case, the issue of ‘no work, no pay’ ought not apply to our members.
“Given the above, CONUA considers it unfair that the salaries paid to members of the union were done pro-rata. What ought actually to have been done, and which we now call on the government to do, is to pay the backlog of our salaries from March to September (2022), in addition to what was cut off from our October (2022) salaries. We expect the government to act on the demand immediately.”
Meanwhile, it was earlier gathered by Credible News that a lecturer from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife stated that he received full payment of October salary.
You can read more of such stories at Credible News.
Ile Ife, a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University and a member of CONUA, claimed in an undercover interview with Daily Trust on Sunday night that the union’s leadership had already received a cue from Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment.
The person added that the minister promised to handle the issue of the “half salaries” paid to them, and that members of the new union will begin receiving notifications as of Monday.
“We did not participate in the previous strike. Our letter to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment was sent earlier. The minister has thus reviewed our letter and given instructions in line with it, the official said.
You can read more of such stories at Credible News and The Cheer News
