The Federal Government has released the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance for academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for the eight-month period covering January to August 2026.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday shortly after inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Accreditation.
CATA is an allowance designed to support academic staff in purchasing essential tools and materials for teaching, research and other academic activities.
Alausa said the payment was in line with the provisions of the 2025 agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
He said, “The Office of the Minister of Education is happy to announce that the full CATA payment has now been released by the Federal Government from January to August 2026 to all universities, all polytechnics and colleges of education.
“All these institutions should have received notification to start paying CATA to all academic staff.”
The minister said the government was also processing the payment of the allowance to non-academic staff.
“And also, the payment to non-academic staff, we’re hoping that these funds will be made available, hopefully, in the next few weeks,” he said.
Alausa said the release of the allowance demonstrated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving the welfare of workers in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
“This is another indication of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to our academic and non-academic staff. President Bola Tinubu made a commitment to ensuring that the quality and welfare of our staff are prioritised. He has prioritised the welfare of our staff,” he said.
He said the administration’s education reforms were not limited to staff welfare, adding that investments were also being made in infrastructure across tertiary institutions, as well as basic and postgraduate education.
“Beyond prioritising the welfare of our staff, he has also significantly invested in infrastructure at all our tertiary institutions and also basic and postgraduate education,” the minister said.
Alausa said the administration was committed to providing Nigerian children with quality education capable of competing with global standards.
“This is a President that believes so much in education. He has delivered beyond his promises to ensure that every single child in this country gets the highest quality of education comparable to anywhere in the world,” he said.
The minister commended Tinubu for what he described as a transformative initiative in the education sector.
