*Non-payment of school fees affected inflow of funds– PRO
*As NASU Issues 7 Days Ultimatum
Management of Ebonyi State University, has appealed to staff of the institution to be patient with it following their two months unpaid salaries.
It was gathered by this newspaper that the university allegedly went bankrupt which has made it to owe it staff for the past two months.
But the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr. Patrick Itumo, said that the alleged bankrupt was false.
He explained that the reason for the unpaid salaries was as a result of non- payment of school fees by students following the closure of schools by the federal government to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Itumo said that some students couldn’t complete the payment of their fees before the shutdown and that affected greatly the inflow of funds in recent months.
He appealed that the June and July salaries would paid as the management was making efforts to clear the backlog of salaries.
Stating, “Most of our students did not finish paying their fees before the COVID-19 break, so everybody dispersed and we didn’t really tidy up things, so it affected our inflow of cash.
“As it was, by the end of May, what we had as cash ran out and we had to rely on the State government’s subvention which is not really too big to take care of our salaries. The university is trying to find a way out, to see if we can add to what the State government gives us every month and pay our staff.
“The truth is that we are not being owed May salary, is just June and July. So the authorities are making efforts to see how the staff could be paid , they are not happy that the staff are not receiving their salaries, but as soon as we make up the money we would be able to see how we can pay up”. He stated.
The Voice gathered from a reliable source that the current subvention from the state government to the University stands at N119 million while the salary of the University Staff is above N300 million. This has led to the backlog of salaries, as the university withhold payment of salaries, while waiting for the next government subvention to augument the money at hand and pay for the outstanding months. This has led to untold hardship and hunger among staff of the institution.
Meanwhile, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, (NASU) Ebonyi State University chapter, has frowned at the non-payment of the June, 2020 salary by the University Management to their members, maintaining that such act is wickedness and an aggravation of the scourge of corona virus pandemic on their members.
In a memo issued and addressed to the Vice Chancellor, the union condemned the non-payment of the June salary and gave the University Management seven (7) days ultimatum to pay them or it would use every legal labour means possible to fight for their legitimate rights.
The memo dated 22nd July, 2020, signed by Comrade Nwovu Michael, Chairman and Comrade Nwoba Ogah, Secretary and made available to the press, communicated the outcome of the emergency Exco meeting of the union, describing the non-payment of salary to her members as willful wickedness of the Management as no cogent reason was given to her members why the salary has not been paid.
According to the memo, “the union in her Exco meeting viewed this as sheer wickedness and adding salt to an existing injury already inflicted by the corona virus pandemic.
“This deliberate wickedness has caused untold hardship on the staff and the University Management is doing nothing to save the situation.
“All efforts made to reach the Vice Chancellor on the matter through phone calls and several visits to his office by the chairmen of the four Unions on Campus proved abortive.
“Based on the foregoing, the Unions amongst other things resolved that the Vice Chancellor should without further unnecessary delay pay members of the Unions their June, 2020 salary within 7 days from the date of this letter or we shall use all legal labour means to fight for our legitimate rights” It stated.
