The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have announced plans for a nationwide strike starting Thursday, July 4, due to the federal government’s failure to pay withheld salary arrears.

This decision was made during SSANU’s 48th regular National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the University of Benin, as stated in a communiqué signed by SSANU President, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim.

Despite promises from the Ministers of Education and Labour, and the House of Representatives to settle the arrears, the government has not fulfilled its commitments. The communiqué criticized the government’s selective payment of withheld salaries and called for equitable treatment of all unions.

SSANU and NASU also demanded the resumption of the N35,000 wage award payments, urging state governments to commence payments with arrears.

The unions warned that if the government fails to address their demands, they will initiate a comprehensive industrial action following a Joint Action Committee meeting on July 4, 2024. They also threatened to join forces with other labor unions to push for a new national minimum wage.

The unions emphasized the urgent need for the federal government to reconstitute a new committee to renegotiate the long-overdue SSANU/FGN 2009 Agreement.