CONUA fumes over unpaid salaries

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CONUA fumes over unpaid salaries

Two months after requesting for the details of the members of the Congress of Nigerian Universities Academics, the Federal Government is yet to release the withheld salaries to the members of the union, Sunday PUNCH has gathered.

The PUNCH had reported how the Federal Government, through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, requested the details of members of the union for payment of withheld salaries.

CONUA, a rival union of university lecturers, which split from the Academic Staff Union of Universities, in December 2022 threatened to drag the Federal Government to court over the withheld salaries of its members. It maintained that its members were not part of the strike embarked upon by ASUU between February and October, 2022.

Meanwhile, a circular obtained by our correspondent, signed on behalf of the AGF by the Director, Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, Charles Wali, addressed to the CONUA president, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, was dated January 13, 2023.

But our correspondent gathered that the members of the union were yet to be paid.

Speaking to our correspondent in Abuja on Saturday, Sunmonu said, “We are yet to be paid. The process is extremely slow and we have a lot of issues with it. However we are still following up but we are yet to be paid.”

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, could not be reached for comment as of the time of filing this report.