After almost two weeks of waiting, academic and non-academic staff of federal universities across Nigeria have been paid their January 2024 salaries.
The payment of the salaries began on Thursday last week and continued till the next day.
However, some employees of a few universities owned by the federal government told LEADERSHIP yesterday that they were yet to be paid.
A LEADERSHIP investigation revealed that the delay in the payment of the workers’ salaries was caused by the exit of the universities from the controversial IPPIS payment platform.
At the Federal University, Lokoja in Kogi State, both the authorities and workers confirmed payment of their January salary last Friday.
The public relations officer of the institution, Mr. Daniel Nwankwo, confirmed that staff got their January salary on Friday, February 9, 2024.
In Ogun State, workers at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) admitted the receipt of their January 2024 salaries last Friday.
FUNAAB’s head of the department of public relations (DPR), ‘Sunkanmi Olajide, who spoke with LEADERSHIP in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, confirmed the receipt of the January salaries paid to all cadres of the workers in the university.
Though Olajide did not explain the rationale behind receiving the salaries late, he merely said all workers at the institution had been fully paid by the federal government.
In Enugu, although the phone number of the spokesperson of the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, Enugu State, Okun Omeaku, was not available, our correspondent got reliable information that the workers received their January salaries last Friday.
In Niger State, the salary of the workers of Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna were also paid last week.
The head of the information unit of the university Lydia Legbo confirmed this LEADERSHIP yesterday via phone.
The University of Port Harcourt said its staff have received their January 2024 salary. The university’s mouthpiece, Dr. Sam Kpenu, disclosed this in a chat with LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt.
A staffer of University of Jos who did not want his name mentioned because he is not authorized to speak told our correspondent that some workers received January salary last Friday. He added that even at that, not all got paid.
According to him, even those few who were paid complained of heavy deductions, with no reason given for the deductions nor the delay in the payment of January salary.
Staff members at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) told LEADERSHIP they had not received their salaries.
According to the worker who pleaded anonymity, the reason for the delay of their January salary was unknown as there was no official correspondence.
The public relations officer of the university, Mrs Joy Nnadi said payment of federal workers salaries commenced last Friday, adding that soon everyone would receive theirs.
Nnadi explained that some persons who were yet to receive theirs may be as a result of internal bottlenecks like those who receive via microfinance banks who were probably still involved in paperwork.
