FG vows to pay 1,800 Unity School teachers three-year salary arrears after Guardian report

The Nigerian Government has responded to a media report that the Federal Ministry of Education is owing 1,800 Unity Schools’ teachers 36-month salary arrears.

While confirming The Guardian’s exclusive report of last week, the government said the files of the affected teachers are already with the Ministry of Finance.

Speaking with our reporter in Abuja on the sidelines of the inaugural EdTech Conference organised by Mastercard Foundation, Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, assured that the teachers would be paid soon.

Responding to an inquiry by our reporter on the plight of the teachers, the minister assured them that they would be paid soon.

His words: “It is already with the Budget Office, with Finance. So hopefully, they will be paid.”

On how soon they would be paid, Prof. Mamman said, “I can’t tell. We don’t pay in the Ministry of Education. But we have done the paperwork. It is already in Finance. So hopefully, very soon they will get their money.”

Last week, The Guardian reported that despite spending N4.3 trillion on personnel budgets in the last six years, the Federal Ministry of Education owes academic staff members of Federal Government Colleges (also known as Unity Schools) three years’ salary arrears worth over N3.4 billion.

Investigations revealed that the teachers, numbering over 1,800, are being owed salary arrears and other allowances from 2018 to 2021.

Recruited by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2018, 2019, and 2020 as education officers and posted to schools across the country, findings reveal that these workers have yet to be paid their First 28 Days Allowance since their engagement.

In public service, the First 28 Days Allowance covers almost the first month of a new employee’s arrival at his or her duty station.

Some of the reasons adduced for the nonpayment of the arrears include logistics challenges encountered at the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) desk of the ministry, and the alleged refusal of the ministry to transmit the files of affected teachers to the Budget Office of the Federation for vetting, and onward transfer to the Accountant General’s office for approval.

Data obtained from the Budget Office of the Federation and BudgIT revealed that over N4.3 trillion was allocated to the Ministry between 2018 and 2024 as personnel costs.

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