ASUU-UNIBEN Rejects September Salary Instalments

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Benin (UNIBEN) branch, has resolved that its members will not accept payment of their September 2026 emoluments in instalments, after university management disclosed that the Federal Government's salary warrant for the month did not include newly negotiated allowances.

The resolution followed an emergency ASUU-UNIBEN Congress held on September 29, 2026, with management confirming it had received the union's decision shortly afterward.

Responding to the resolution, the university's bursar said management appreciated the role university-based unions play in promoting staff welfare, but noted that emoluments earned by staff members across all unions remain personal to each individual rather than collectively earned. According to the bursar, management had been receiving requests from many academic staff members asking to be paid their salaries while awaiting the separate allowance component still being processed by the Federal Government.

"Nonetheless, as a reciprocal gesture, Management has decided to defer to the decision taken by the Congress of ASUU-UNIBEN to await the release of the allowance component of the emoluments due to academic staff till the next Congress meeting fixed for Monday, October 5, 2026, before considering further action," the bursar said, adding that this did not override any individual staff member's right to receive their salary without delay. Staff who wished to receive their September salary ahead of the allowance release were advised to approach the Salaries and Wages Division of the Bursary Department by October 2, 2026, to indicate as much.

The dispute traces back to a circular issued by management on September 28, 2026, titled "Payment of September, 2026 Salary," informing the university community that it had received the payment warrant for September salaries, but that the warrant excluded the newly negotiated allowances and was based on the old salary structure instead.

The circular recalled that a similar situation had played out during the August 2026 salary payment, when management faced accusations of paying only half salaries after the allowance warrant arrived separately and later than the base salary warrant. It noted that shortly after the August payment, the Federal Government released the warrant for the new allowances, and all affected staff were subsequently paid in full.

To avoid a repeat of that experience, management convened a meeting with all university unions on September 28, 2026, attended by leaders and representatives of ASUU, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU). At that meeting, management briefed the unions on the status of the September warrant and appealed for understanding to proceed with payment based on the available warrant, pending a further warrant for the newly negotiated allowances.

According to the circular, CONUA, NAMDA, SSANU, NAAT, and NASU all agreed that management should proceed with paying September salaries based on the existing approved salary structure, including all third-party deductions, while awaiting the additional allowance warrant. ASUU's branch leadership, however, told the meeting it would need to convene its own emergency congress before reaching a final decision, a position that led to Monday's resolution against accepting instalment payments.

Management said it had consequently approved the commencement of September salary payments for members of the unions that had given their consent, while payment to ASUU members would depend on the outcome of the union's emergency congress. "Management regrets any inconvenience this delay may cause and assures all staff that as soon as the Federal Government releases the warrant for the newly negotiated allowances, payment will be made without delay," the circular said.

The UNIBEN dispute adds a fresh dimension to the broader pattern of salary and allowance payment disputes that have affected Nigerian public universities throughout 2026, with the underlying issue here centred specifically on the staggered release of federal payment warrants rather than the agreement-implementation disputes that have driven indefinite strikes at institutions including Nasarawa, Imo, Plateau, and Ondo State universities in recent months. With ASUU-UNIBEN's next Congress meeting scheduled for October 5, 2026, the resolution of this particular dispute will likely hinge on whether the Federal Government releases the outstanding allowance warrant before that date.