The Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused authorities of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma of failing to remit nearly N1 billion deducted ASUU dues and members’ welfare savings/loan repayments to the union.
The union also alleged that the university has failed to pay salary arrears of up to two years to many academic staff of the University.
It therefore urged all well-meaning stakeholders of AAU and the Visitor to the institution and Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki to prevail on the authorities to pay all outstanding salaries of staff.
In a statement issued in Effurun, Delta State through Dr. Wilfred Okologume, the local chairperson of the union at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), Delta State and made available to journalists in Benin, the union demanded that all the deducted ASUU dues and welfare savings/repaid loans for 15 months, between September 2020 and November 2021 should be immediately remitted to the union without further delay.
Dr. Okologume condemned the deliberate non-payment of salaries to many academic staff at the state owned tertiary institution for 24 months for no offence or misconduct committed by them.
He added that he decided to issue the solidarity message in support of his embattled colleagues at AAU following a recent zonal meeting of the union at Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka where reports from the seven universities in the zone were received and discussed.
The statement added, “This is sheer wickedness and a breach of the contractual agreement between the University and the affected staff since the staff are still in the services of the University performing their statutory duties.”
The union accused the University’s Administration/the Special Intervention Team (SIT) of the university of allegedly devising wicked tactics of denial of payment of salaries of staff as a means of meting out jungle punishment to some staff perceived as strong members of ASUU to cow and intimidate them to submit to the objectionable administrative style of the university.
The union claimed that the denial of salaries to staff was a major source of the crisis in the university.
“Surprisingly, the university administration has not established violation of the university law or rules and regulations by the affected staff to justify their ill-treatment,” the union said.
The union slammed the continued illegal existence of the SIT in the school which it further alleged has been implicated as the mastermind of the anti-labour action in the university, charging that the SIT manipulate information about staff to deceive the Visitor to the university for selfish reasons.
