FG Introduces Three-Year Review Clause In New Tertiary Institutions Agreements

The Federal Government has launched a three-year assessment clause into the brand new 2026 agreements with workers unions of tertiary establishments.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this in Abuja on the presentation of the agreements to the unions.

He stated beneath the brand new association, both the Federal Government or any of the unions can set off a assessment of the settlement after three years, to handle rising welfare points and financial realities.

“We have built in a three-year review clause. Either government or the unions can call for a review after three years,” Alausa stated.

Alausa stated the clause was designed to stop future agitations and extended negotiations that disrupt educational calendars, including {that a} four-year programme ought to not lengthen past 4 years.

He stated the agreements cowl Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) for Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), and Consolidated Non-Teaching Tools Allowance (CONTTA) for non-teaching workers unions of universities, polytechnics and faculties of training.

He famous that the allowances took impact from January 1, 2026 and have been paid to all establishments.

The minister introduced the growth of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Implementation and Monitoring Committee right into a single Implementation and Monitoring Committee (IMC) for all educational and non-academic unions.

He urged union leaders to channel all grievances to the committee slightly than the media, stressing that industrial motion shouldn’t be the primary possibility.

“You have a president that has your back. Don’t go to the press first. Whatever grievances that you have, bring it to this committee. Strike should not be your first action. President Bola Tinubu has completely removed strike in tertiary institutions,” Alausa stated.

On her half, the Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Said Ahmad, stated non-academic workers stay indispensable to the training system, protecting administration, finance, laboratories, libraries, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), healthcare and upkeep.

“Supporting the welfare and professional development of these employees is therefore an investment in the quality, relevance and competitiveness of our education system,” she stated.

Also talking, Chairman of the Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee, Malam Yayale Ahmed, stated he initially hesitated to just accept the chairmanship however later adopted a mannequin of being a part of the unions to grasp their considering.

“I decided that I should not see myself as we versus the unions. I tried to make sure that I was part of the union, to think what they are thinking,” he stated.

Yayale disclosed that the Minister crafted CATA and CONTTA as a manner out with out destabilising authorities coverage that salaries wouldn’t be elevated till the following 5 years.

He urged unions to not take President Tinubu’s political will without any consideration and appealed that threats of strike shouldn’t be translated into motion.

Yayale thanked the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), notably former chairman Mr Ekpo Nta, for his or her help.

The agreements have been introduced to ASUP, COEASU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Nigerian Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), Non-Teaching Staff Union of Polytechnics (NOTSUP), Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN), and different non-teaching unions.

Speaking individually, the President of ASUP, Comrade Shammah Kpanja, the National President of COEASU, Dr Lawan Bazza Ahmed, and the President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, expressed happiness over the fee of the allowances by the Federal Government.