Health
Health workers to sue SSANU, NASU over allowance exclusion
By Daniel Ayantoye
The Coalition of Healthcare Professionals in Tertiary Education Institutions of Nigeria has threatened to sue the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions over the alleged exclusion of health workers from the implementation of the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Allowance.
In a statement issued on Friday by its National Chairman, Musa Shehu, the coalition described the development as discriminatory and called on the Federal Government to intervene.
The coalition alleged that health workers in federal university medical centres were excluded from the recently concluded CONTTA allowance agreement between the Federal Government and SSANU/NASU despite being dues-paying members of the unions.
It claimed that while the allowance, alongside six months’ arrears, was being paid to other non-academic staff in federal universities, health workers on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and the Consolidated Health Salary Structure had been left out.
According to the coalition, the exclusion was being carried out by national and branch executives of SSANU and NASU in collaboration with bursars of the affected institutions.
The statement read, “Presently, the CONTTA allowance plus six months’ arrears are being paid to all non-academic staff in federal universities, excluding health workers.
“This has caused emotional strain, as members watch their own union executives discriminate against them by denying them Federal Government benefits simply because health workers operate under a different salary structure. We are members of SSANU and NASU, and they deduct dues from us monthly.”
The coalition maintained that the CONTTA allowance was approved for all non-academic staff to cover professional association subscriptions, conferences and refresher training, ICT and data support, as well as the purchase of professional documents, including Acts, gazettes, circulars and the Public Service Rules.
It argued that the allowance was not tied to any salary structure and, therefore, should not be restricted to employees on the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure.
The group further alleged that some affected members who approached SSANU and NASU branch officials or university bursars were told that the allowance was meant only for workers on CONTISS and that employees on CONHESS or CONMESS would have to convert to CONTISS before becoming eligible.
Describing the explanation as misleading, the coalition alleged that the exclusion amounted to discrimination against members based on salary structure and violated provisions of the Trade Union Act, which, it said, guarantees workers the right to belong to unions without discrimination.
It called on the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to investigate the alleged discrimination and compel SSANU and NASU to include health workers in the payment of the allowance.
The coalition also urged the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to clarify that CONTTA applies to all non-academic staff regardless of salary structure, while asking the National Universities Commission to direct federal universities to ensure that health workers were not excluded from the payment.
Warning that it was prepared to institute legal proceedings against the unions, the coalition said, “The implementation of the 2026 agreement must be done promptly, fully and without discrimination. The law is clear. We will not be silenced.”
Responding to the allegations, the National Vice President of SSANU, Abdulsobur Abdulsalam, denied that the union deliberately excluded health workers, saying the decision was taken by the Federal Government during negotiations.
He said SSANU had gone into the negotiations seeking improved allowances for all non-academic staff but was informed that it could only negotiate for workers covered by the salary structure agreed to in the 2009 negotiations.
He said, “We went to the negotiation with an intention to negotiate for all cadres in the university system, but they told us that if we were not the ones that negotiated it initially, we do not have the locus to demand for an increment. That was the challenge that we had.”
Abdulsalam explained that before 2012, all non-academic staff in federal universities, including health workers, were on the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure, adding that the 2009 negotiation covered everyone.
He said the situation changed after the Nigerian Medical Association and the Joint Health Sector Unions negotiated separate salary structures for health professionals, leading to the adoption of CONMESS and CONHESS.
According to him, when SSANU reopened negotiations in 2026, the government insisted that the review could only apply to the CONTISS salary structure negotiated in 2009.
Abdulsalam said, “In 2026, we embarked on a renegotiation. We pushed for everybody, and the government said no; they could only give an increase on what we negotiated in 2009 on CONTISS. We are exploring other mechanisms to ensure that they are captured.”
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