Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has approved the implementation of the 2025 Federal Government–Academic Staff Union of Universi...
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has approved the implementation of the 2025 Federal Government–Academic Staff Union of Universities (FGN-ASUU) salary agreement for academic staff of Kaduna State University, with effect from October 2026.
The approval comes amid an indefinite strike by the KASU branch of ASUU over unresolved demands concerning staff welfare and other issues.
The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo, disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing in Kaduna, saying the decision followed recommendations by a nine-member Government-KASU/ASUU Negotiation Committee constituted by Governor Sani.
Sambo said the approved package covers the revised Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure, Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance and other applicable salary adjustments and allowances provided under the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement.
According to him, the committee, chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr AbdulKadir Muazu Meyere, was established to examine the union’s demands and develop a fair and sustainable framework for their implementation.
The commissioner appealed to ASUU and other university-based unions, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), to return to dialogue.
> “It is against this record of commitment and intervention that the government calls on ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT to reciprocate the gesture by embracing dialogue as the preferred pathway for resolving differences,” Sambo said.
He added that improved staff welfare should be matched by better academic performance, research, innovation and student outcomes.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the KASU branch of ASUU embarked on a two-week warning strike, following which the state government constituted the negotiation committee to address the union’s demands.
As part of its intervention, the state government also approved a one-off payment of N300 million as Earned Academic Allowance to offset part of an accumulated backlog of more than N800 million dating back to 2016.
Sambo said the latest measures reflected Governor Sani’s commitment to education and human-capital development. He noted that at least 25 per cent of the state’s annual budget had been allocated to education since the governor assumed office.
He listed other interventions to include the construction and renovation of 3,267 classrooms, provision of 1,194 toilets and 90 boreholes, as well as 57,777 pieces of furniture for learners and teachers.
The commissioner also said the government had approved a 50 per cent reduction in tertiary education fees and extended the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years.
On KASU’s academic performance, Sambo urged the university to convert improved staff welfare into stronger teaching, research and innovation, while taking measures to improve its international standing, including its performance in the Times Higher Education rankings.
KASU Management Welcomes Intervention
The Vice-Chancellor of KASU, Prof. Abdullahi Ibrahim Musa, said the Sani administration had introduced significant interventions in staff welfare and the university’s operations.
“No government has done what the Governor Uba Sani administration has done for the university,” Musa said.
He disclosed that the state government had released more than N800 million in withheld salaries over the past three years, alongside N146 million for outstanding Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) allowances inherited from previous administrations.
Musa said the university had consequently cleared the inherited withheld salary obligations.
He further disclosed that the government had provided more than N200 million in overhead funding to KASU in 2026 to support laboratory chemicals and reagents, students’ field trips, examinations and other academic activities.
According to him, more than N300 million had also been invested in the accreditation of over 57 academic programmes and resource-verification exercises for 60 postgraduate programmes by the National Universities Commission.
The Chairman of the KASU Governing Council, Dr Ibrahim Umar, also commended the governor’s interventions, describing them as evidence of his administration’s commitment to education and human-capital development.
Umar said the government had also made progress in tackling the out-of-school children crisis, claiming that more than 300,000 children had been returned to school from an estimated inherited population of over 500,000 in 2023.
He said the administration’s reforms had also transformed the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority into a more technology-driven and data-based institution.
The government, in its appeal to the university community, described the implementation of the salary agreement as “an investment in people, a vote of confidence in KASU and a renewed compact for excellence,” while urging all parties to return to dialogue and work towards restoring industrial harmony at the university.
No comments