NAAT Rejects FG Loan Scheme, Demands Payment of Withheld Salaries and Arrears

The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has firmly rejected the Federal Government’s recently introduced loan initiative for workers, known as the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), labelling it a long-term financial trap for its members.

Instead of loans, NAAT is urging the government to fulfill its statutory responsibilities by clearing all outstanding entitlements legitimately owed to its members. These include three and a half months of withheld salaries, seven months of Occupational Hazard Allowance (OHA) arrears, and the release of withheld salary deductions for two months, among other unresolved payments.

NAAT President, Ibeji Nwokoma, said on Wednesday that subscribing to the loan scheme amounts to taking salary advances, which would only deepen financial dependency. “We view the TISSF initiative as a distraction and reject it entirely,” he stated. “Our members are not interested in being financially enslaved by a system that forces them to borrow their own salaries in advance. NAAT cooperatives already meet short-term financial needs more sustainably.”

He listed further arrears yet to be paid: eleven months of Responsibility Allowance (RA), a year’s backlog of the 25% and 35% salary increments, four months of wage award arrears, unpaid N30,000 minimum wage adjustments for overlooked members since 2019, and supplementary funds to clear outstanding earned allowances.

NAAT also criticized the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the reported revocation of 7,000 hectares of land belonging to Yakubu Gowon University (formerly University of Abuja). The association described the move as unilateral, arbitrary, and contrary to existing regulations guiding the institution’s land use.

The union noted that the affected land had been earmarked for vital academic expansions, including research centres, new programs, housing, and other infrastructure to accommodate future growth. With only 4,000 hectares remaining, NAAT warned that the revocation severely undermines the university’s long-term development plan.