ASUU Outraged Over ₦799k Payslip Disparity, Demands Immediate Salary Upgrade in Lagos

Senior university professors in Lagos State-owned higher institutions now earn less in monthly remuneration than public secondary school principals, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has revealed.

Addressing an emergency joint press conference at the Lagos State University (LASU) campus in Ojo, union representatives from LASU, Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), and Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) raised the alarm over what they described as “starvation wages” and severe economic neglect.

To substantiate the claim, ASUU Zonal Coordinator Comrade Oluwaseun Babalola displayed a verified payslip of a Lagos public secondary school principal showing a monthly net earning of ₦799,000. He insisted that despite holding the highest academic qualifications, no professor in LASU or sister state universities currently receives up to that figure.

The union blamed the widening salary gap on the Lagos State Government’s refusal to implement the provisions of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, eight months after its mutually agreed commencement date of January 1, 2026.

Compounding their financial distress, the academics highlighted heavy monthly tax deductions, noting that associate professors and full professors lose over ₦120,000 every month in taxes from salaries that fail to meet basic living costs.

Beyond wage issues, union branch leaders decried irregular staff promotion exercises, deteriorating campus industrial relations, and the victimisation of union leaders who speak out against administrative grievances.

The coalition appealed directly to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene immediately by implementing the 2025 pay agreement across all state universities, rectifying promotion anomalies, and reinstating affected union officials to avert an impending crisis in Lagos higher education.