SSANU Asks TSU to Suspend 2024/2025 Appraisal Exercise Over Unresolved Issues

 

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Taraba State University (TSU) branch, has called on the university's Governing Council and management to temporarily suspend the 2024/2025 appraisal exercise for senior administrative and technical staff.

 

The union said the exercise should be put on hold until its observations, positions and recommendations are adequately considered in the interest of industrial harmony and the growth of the institution.

 

The Chairperson of SSANU at TSU, Comrade Bitrus Joseph Ajibauka, made the position of the union known in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Jalingo.

 

Ajibauka said the decision was taken during the union's 24th Regular Congress meeting held on January 28, 2026. He explained that SSANU was neither granted membership nor representation on the committee responsible for reviewing the Conditions of Service and the Guidelines for Appointments, Appraisals and Promotions of Senior Administrative and Technical Staff.

 

According to him, submissions made by the union on July 8 and September 15, 2025, were not given due attention. He also faulted aspects of the revised career progression framework, including the reintroduction of CONTISS 12, which he said had been abolished in the university's professional career structure, and the eight-year time-in-rank requirement for progression from CONTISS 14 to 15, among other concerns.

 

"SSANU-TSU resolved that the long-overdue 2024/2025 appraisal exercise be suspended until our observations and recommendations are considered," Ajibauka said, stressing that the issues raised were unacceptable to the union.

 

The union also expressed dissatisfaction with the Taraba State Government and the university management over what it described as failure to address outstanding demands contained in a Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed at a tripartite meeting involving the Ministry of Tertiary Education, the university management and the union on January 25, 2025.

 

Ajibauka said unpaid salaries and allowances had continued to affect members and their families, listing the unpaid full salaries for September and October 2022, withheld portions of salaries for June, November and December 2022, as well as the non-payment of Earned Administrative Allowances (EAA).

 

He further lamented the plight of retired SSANU members and families of deceased staff, who he said were suffering due to delays in the implementation of the state-defined pension scheme.

 

"It is disheartening that our retired members and families of deceased colleagues are suffering for lack of pension after faithfully serving the university," he said, calling on the state government and university management to expedite action on the pension scheme.

 

SSANU warned that failure to resolve the outstanding issues could force the union to resume the total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action it suspended on January 26, 2025.

 

The union also appealed to the Federal Government to fast-track the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement with SSANU to ensure equity among university-based unions and avert a breakdown of industrial harmony.