The Bayelsa State Government’s recent approval of a 40 per cent allowance package for public servants has been rejected by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Niger Delta University (NDU) chapter, saying the gesture does not address agreements already reached with university lecturers.
The union said the state government was misleading the public by making its demands look like part of the newly approved allowances. It added that lecturers were only asking for the implementation of agreements in the 2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The union was demanding the implementation of the Consolidated Academic and Allied Staff Allowance (CATA) agreement signed on December 23, 2025, to take effect from January 2026, a statement on Tuesday signed by the ASUU branch chairman, Comrade Oyinkepreye Lucky Bebeteidoh and the branch secretary, Comrade Victory C. Owede, said.
But the ASUU chairman said the total computed CATA for academic staff in the state’s three universities is N336.9 million monthly, and not over N2.99 billion every month as claimed by ASUU.
Criticising the government for misleading the figures, Bebeteidoh questioned why the government allowed “peculiar allowances” for the other unions but declined to implement an agreement it signed with ASUU voluntarily.
“ASUU’s demand of N2.144 billion is a misrepresentation and disinformation of the public to create an impression that ASUU is demanding more than N2.99 billion monthly as CATA. The CATA was signed in December 2025 for commencement of implementation in January 2026.
“ASUU is demanding for the implementation of the CATA as stipulated in the agreement. Why is the government giving odd concessions to unions without having such an agreement? “Why put our CATA demand together with the peculiar allowances?” he asked.
The ASUU chairman also lambasted the government for its excuse that it was waiting for other states to implement the allowance before it could do anything.
He said that many states with far less federal allocation than that of Bayelsa had entered into such agreements.
“ASUU wrote to the government in January 2026 informing it of the implementation period. Why did it take seven months before taking an official position of inability to pay? The excuse of many universities not having adopted CATA yet is laughably weak.
“CATA has been implemented in over 10 states that receive far less from the Federation Account than Bayelsa. “They met their commitments without waiting for Bayelsa to do anything.”
The union also reiterated its demand for 19 months’ outstanding arrears payment as a result of the delayed implementation of the 25 and 35 per cent salary wage award.
The state government has paid six months of the arrears but 19 months is still outstanding, despite the significant improvement in the state’s revenue, ASUU said.
Bebeteidoh said Bayelsa got about N95.15 billion in April and May and ended up with a closing balance of N37.08 billion, making it difficult to justify the claim of lack of funds by the government.
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“You should have seen the inflow for April and May, but the state government is claiming paucity of funds to pay the 19 months arrears totaling N2.7 billion. Benue State, which receives a much lower FAAC allocation, implemented the wage award and paid all arrears.
He also lamented the failure of the government to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on February 5, 2025, which led to the suspension of an industrial action.
He also said one of the outstanding issues was the lack of on-campus staff accommodation at the university more than 20 years after its establishment.
More than a year after the signing of the MoU, nothing has been done in the matter of on-campus accommodation. “From 4pm every working day until the following morning the campus is like a ghost town because there is nowhere for staff to live.”
The ASUU chairman lamented that no permanent staff housing project had been completed in the university’s 26-year history, warning that the lack of residential facilities still hampers academic activities and the growth of a vibrant university community.
He called on the Bayelsa State Government to honour the agreements it entered into with the union, implement the CATA, pay backlogs of salary arrears and other promises aimed at the welfare of university lecturers and the overall development of higher education in the state.
