The Federal Government has commenced the payment of the withheld salaries of lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

It was gathered that the government began the payment of the withheld salaries on Monday, February 19, 2024.

The development was confirmed by the ASUU chairman at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin.

“Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in,” Bolarin told Punch.

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It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu, in October 2023, approved the release of four of the eight months withheld salaries of the lecturers.

The salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against some university-based unions that embarked on a strike that lasted eight months in 2022.

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, recently said the government has increased the university workers’ salaries by 35 per cent, adding that the government also granted autonomy to the institutions by removing them from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

The Star