Sanwo-Olu Approves 40% CATA, 10% EAA For Lagos University Workers After Weeks-Long Indefinite Strike
Sanwo-Olu Approves 40% CATA, 10% EAA For Lagos University Workers After Weeks-Long Indefinite Strike
“It is now expected of the various unions to meet and review the offer and decide on whether to end the strike or not.”
The Lagos State Government has approved the domestication and implementation of the ASUU/SSANU/NASU/NAAT agreement across its state-owned universities, following weeks of an indefinite strike that paralysed academic activities in the institutions.
In a letter dated October 7, 2026, signed by the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Tolani Sule, which was obtained by SaharaReporters, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu conveyed his approval of the unions’ demands following recent engagement with the state government.
A source who leaked the document to SaharaReporters stated: “The commissioner for tertiary education in Lagos State released this memo communicating the intention of the governor to implement the ASUU/FG agreement today.
“It is now expected of the various unions to meet and review the offer and decide on whether to end the strike or not.”
According to the letter with reference number MTE/I&M/S.4/VOL.III/ 165, the governor “in his magnanimity and commitment to industrial harmony and staff welfare” has “graciously approved the domestication and the payment of the 40 per cent CATA and 10 per cent Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) for academic staff, adoption of the Readers and Professors’ monthly allowances respectively to N70,000 and N145,000 only, and 35 per cent Revised Allowances for Non-Academic Staff across Lagos State-owned Tertiary Institutions effective from 1st January 2026.”
The arrears, according to the letter, will be paid in two tranches with October and November 2026 salaries respectively. The governor further directed that “all allowances for the unions to be tax-free.”
The relevant agencies of government have also been directed to commence the immediate implementation process of the approval in line with extant financial regulations.
The commissioner stated: “I therefore wish to crave an indulgence of the union leadership to order their members to disembark the ongoing strike action and commence their work with immediate effect.”
Discover more
News website subscriptions
Breaking news alerts
Nigerian economic news
Online newspaper subscription
Latest news headlines
“I sincerely appreciate the Union for its patience, maturity and understanding during the negotiation period and enjoin all members to continue to maintain industrial peace and to be more dedicated to their duties,” the letter added.
The approval follows weeks of industrial action that began on September 15, 2026, when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Joint Campus Group, covering Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), and Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), declared a total and indefinite strike.
Discover more
Newspaper advertising space
Journalism training courses
Buy Maps
Shop African Art
Politics
The union had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Lagos State Government on August 31, which expired without a satisfactory resolution. ASUU said the government allowed the September 13 deadline to pass without initiating dialogue, despite a final warning issued on September 10 that “silence is no longer an option”.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising ASUU, SSANU, NASU, and NAAT, subsequently declared a total, indefinite strike effective from midnight, Friday, October 2, 2026, following the expiration of a final seven-day ultimatum.
Discover more
Read Daily News
Read Newspapers
Study Journalism
Political analysis reports
News
Addressing journalists at a World Press Conference in Lagos, JAC Chairman, Comrade Prof. Ibrahim Bakare, had detailed what he described as a frustrating chronology of engagements with the state government, accusing officials of bureaucratic delays and shifting goalposts.
He stated that the unions had “exhausted every possible means to avert declaration of industrial action”.
The core of the dispute stemmed from the non-implementation of a communiqué signed on August 31, 2026, which included a 40% Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) and 10% Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) for ASUU; a 35% Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Non-Teaching Staff Allowance (CONTTA) and 35% hazard allowance for NASU and SSANU; and a commitment to immediate implementation with the August or September 2026 salary and the payment of eight months’ arrears backdated to January 1, 2026.
Prof. Bakare had noted that by the end of September 2026, September salaries were paid without the implementation of the agreed rates and the outstanding arrears, with the arrears now accumulating to nine full months.
The JAC had put forward five core demands to the state government, including the immediate executive approval and implementation of the signed 2026 agreements; a one-off payment of nine months’ arrears covering January to September 2026; strict compliance with the non-taxable terms on all negotiated allowances; implementation of the 15% “Lagos Factor” allowance to address the high cost of living; and fulfillment of other outstanding commitments, including a 20% salary increment promised during the 2023 election campaign and the release of five Marcopolo buses.
Murisiku Onigemo, Chairman of ASUU-LASUSTECH, had earlier told Channels TV that the union resolved to sustain the industrial action until its demands were met.
“As we speak now, the students are not in their classrooms, they are at home,” Onigemo said, confirming that academic activities remained disrupted at the institution.
The strike had crippled academic and administrative activities across all four Lagos State-owned universities: LASU, LASUCOM, LASUSTECH, and LASUED.
On Monday, the situation took a new turn when NASU members in the three institutions shut their main gates.
The development also drew political reactions, with the 2027 governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV), criticising the Lagos State Government for allowing the strike to drag on.
“This was avoidable and unacceptable,” GRV said in a post on his official X account. “University workers deserve a pay rise and a government that honours its commitments to them. A government that allows its universities to shut down indefinitely is not only failing its workers, it is gambling with the future of our children.”
The Commissioner for Tertiary Education had earlier disclosed on September 29 that the government had agreed to implement the 2025 Federal Government/ASUU agreement and was only awaiting the governor’s approval for the release of funds.
He had said a financial table for the implementation had been computed and that the government was reordering the budget to raise the needed funding since the financial implication was not captured in the state’s budget.
According to The Sun, the chairmen of the unions and the vice-chancellors have received the state government circular. One of the chairmen said he has summoned an emergency congress on Thursday to discuss the state government’s position, while another chairman disclosed that emoluments for retired professors were not captured in the governor’s approval.
The approval letter comes after nearly a month of industrial action that has left thousands of students at home across Lagos State-owned universities.
As of the time of filing this report, it remained unclear whether the unions would accept the offer and call off the strike, with union leaders expected to meet and review the government’s proposal in the coming days.
