The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU) on Saturday suspended their strike actions after a brief meeting with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu in Abuja.
The suspension is expected to take effect from Wednesday.
According to the education minister, the Federal Government has committed N50 billion to pay earned allowances for members of SSANU, NASU and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
However, activities in public universities are expected to remain limited as ASUU remains on strike.
In a statement by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU, the bodies said suspension was for an initial two months.
“The two months is to allow government implement the agreements reached,” the statement, signed by JAC spokesperson Peter Adeyemi, said.
“Part of the agreement is the decision of the government to set aside the sum of N50 billion for the payment of earned academic and earned allowances, cogent decision on the University Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (U3PS), release of the white paper on university visitation panel and funding of the universities.
“On the poor funding of federal institutions, the Minister said he directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure that all the schools are up-to-date on what they are supposed to do, otherwise sanctions will be visited on any institution that defaults.
“The Minister of Education also gave an assurance that no member of the unions that participated in the strike will be victimised.
“The Minister said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to devout 15 per cent of the national budget to education.
“On the salary payment system, the Minister said the alternative payment systems provided by ASUU JAC of NASU and SSANU did very well. He added that the Federal Government is awaiting the report of the technical committee it set up before taking action on the matter.”
