The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) yesterday threatened a nationwide strike over salary delays. In a statement, President Kpanja Shammah said the situation had subjected lecturers to “mental torture”.

He blamed the delays on the transition “in the last eight months” from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).

Shammah said: “This new trend of subjecting staff of these institutions to the mental torture of enduring indeterminate periods of uncertainty concerning the release of the severely devalued pittance now referred to as salaries coincides with the transition of the tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payment platform to the GIFMIS platform.

“Role players in the responsibility chain have consistently placed the blame on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation attributing the same to delay in the funding of the different institutions for the salaries over these eight months.

“We have consistently complained formally to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation before now without the desired improvement leaving staff of different Federal Polytechnics in distress at the end of each month.

“We hereby renew our calls for the release of June 2025 salaries to tertiary institutions in the country without any further delay and a departure from this new trend of delay in salary payments in the coming months.”

He added: “Our union may be forced to direct its members to stay away from all affected polytechnics if the situation does not improve in the coming days and sustain the same until the salaries are paid; while adopting the same pattern at the end of each month going forward.”