Lecturers at the Lagos State University of Science and Technology have called on the institution’s management to explain why their August salaries have not been paid.
The lecturers accused the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olumuyiwa Odusanya, of independently deciding to withhold the payments without consulting the Lagos State Government.
They noted that academic staff at other state-owned institutions, including Lagos State University and Lagos State University of Education, had already received their August salaries despite similar industrial action by non-academic workers.
“The VC has taken a unilateral decision to withhold workers’ salary without recourse to the Lagos State Government. The other state-owned universities whose non-academic staff unions are equally on strike have since paid their workers’ August salary.
“Meanwhile, the LASUSTECH academic staff are not on strike, but they have refused to pay us. LASG has not issued any directive to the VC to withhold workers’ salary,” one of the lecturers said.
However, the university’s Director of Information, Lanre Kuye, rejected the allegation and said the affected lecturers would receive their salaries once the ongoing strike was suspended.
It was reported that the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities at LASUSTECH had been on strike for about three weeks.
Speaking on Friday, Kuye explained that only the August salary remained unpaid and attributed the delay to the fact that the payroll had not been prepared.
“It is only the August salary that has not been paid. The reason being that nobody prepared it. The state government has been doing well for us but nobody has prepared the salary. Personally, I want them to suspend the strike to come and prepare the salary.
“Salaries are being prepared by NASU and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities who are on strike. It is not true that the Vice-Chancellor is withholding their salaries. It would be prepared immediately if they suspend the strike. The VC cannot prepare the account. He is a medical doctor.”