Commissioner Disagrees With ASUU, Says Government Released Additional ₦70m

The Taraba State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Dr. Mike Dio Jen, has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Taraba State University (TSU) chapter, to embrace dialogue rather than resort to strike action over unresolved welfare issues.

Dr. Dio Jen made the appeal while fielding questions from journalists in his office, stressing that industrial action was not the best approach to achieving the union's objectives. He maintained that the state government remained committed to addressing the concerns raised by the lecturers.

The commissioner recalled that in February 2024, the TSU chapter of ASUU presented six key demands to the government, including payment of salary arrears, Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), pension and gratuity schemes, composition of the governing council, and staff promotions. According to him, the government had already met more than three of the demands and was still working on the remaining ones.

He dismissed claims that the government had only released ₦50 million once to the union, insisting that an additional ₦70 million had since been paid as a top-up. He added that efforts were ongoing to ensure continuity in the payment arrangement.

Dr. Dio Jen appealed to the union to "wear a human face" in pressing its demands and to consider what he described as the efforts of Governor Agbu Kefas toward improving staff welfare in tertiary institutions across the state.

Meanwhile, the Taraba State University chapter of ASUU has expressed concern over what it described as delays in the fulfilment of agreements reached with the state government. The union said commitments relating to pension enrolment, settlement of salary arrears and payment of Earned Academic Allowances were yet to be fully implemented.

Speaking after a union congress in Jalingo, the Chairperson of TSU-ASUU, Dr. Garba Mbave, noted that the strike action suspended on January 17, 2025, followed negotiations in which the government agreed to commence monthly payments of ₦50 million from February 2025 to address some of the demands.

Dr. Mbave, however, stated that only one payment had been made as of July 2025, contrary to expectations of consistent monthly releases. He also recalled that a directive issued in August 2025 for the clearance of outstanding allowances and salary backlogs before December had yet to be fully implemented as of January 2026.

The ASUU chairperson further decried the absence of a functional pension scheme for academic staff, noting that repeated correspondence to relevant government offices had not yielded formal responses.

He called on the state government to take concrete and timely steps to resolve the outstanding issues, warning that prolonged delays could affect staff morale and the stability of the university system.