The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved the domestication and implementation of the 2025 agreement between the Federal Government and university workers’ unions in the state-owned tertiary institutions.

Under the approval, academic staff will receive a 40 per cent Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) and 10 per cent Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), while the monthly allowances for Readers and Professors will be increased to N70,000 and N145,000, respectively.

The government also approved a 35 per cent revised allowance for non-academic staff across Lagos State-owned tertiary institutions.

The approvals are effective from 1 January 2026, according to a statement signed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Sule.

The Joint Campus Group of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) comprising the Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State University of  Education (LASUED), and Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), had on 15 September asked its members to down tools with “immediate effect.

The industrial action followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the Lagos State Government on 31 August. According to the union, the ultimatum expired without a satisfactory resolution from the state government.

Its principal demand was the full domestication and implementation of the December 2025 ASUU-Federal Government Agreement across Lagos State-owned universities.

The agreement includes the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) and critical welfare protections for both serving and retired academic staff.

Arrears to be paid in two tranches

Mr Sule said the arrears arising from the approved allowances would be paid in two tranches, alongside the October and November 2026 salaries, respectively.

He said all allowances due to the unions under the approval would be tax-free.

“The relevant Agencies of Government have been directed to commence immediate implementation process of this approval in line with extant financial regulations,” Mr Sule said.

He also mentioned that the approval followed recent engagements between the Lagos State Government and the leadership of the unions over their demands.

According to Mr Sule, the governor approved the measures in the interest of industrial harmony and staff welfare in the state’s tertiary institutions.

Following the approval, the commissioner appealed to the leadership of the unions to direct their members to suspend the ongoing strike and return to work immediately.

“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,” he said while he thanked the unions for their “patience, maturity and understanding” during the negotiations.