By Ebunoluwa Sessou

The Coalition of Healthcare Professionals in Tertiary Education Institutions in Nigeria has rejected the position of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, over the exclusion of health workers from the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Allowance, CONTTA, in some federal universities.

The coalition said it would proceed with legal action against the union over what it described as discriminatory treatment of health workers who are dues-paying members of SSANU.

National Chairman of the coalition, Musa Shehu, disclosed this in a statement issued Friday, following a meeting between the SSANU National President and representatives of four university health workers.

Shehu said the meeting failed to resolve the dispute, as the SSANU leadership reportedly maintained that the union could not intervene in cases where health workers were excluded from CONTTA because the allowance was being paid from Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, by university managements.

According to him, the SSANU president said letters had been circulated to vice-chancellors affirming that CONTTA was intended for all financial members of the union, but advised affected workers to wait for the Federal Government to release funds for the allowance.

The coalition rejected the position, citing the intervention of the SSANU/NASU Joint Action Committee at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, which it said led to the payment of three months’ outstanding 25/35 per cent arrears through IGR.

Shehu argued that the development demonstrated that the unions could influence university managements to use IGR for the welfare of their members.

He accused SSANU of failing to take decisive action to protect health workers from discriminatory exclusion, stressing that no nationwide protest or industrial action had been initiated at universities where affected workers were allegedly denied CONTTA.

“From all indications, it is clear that the SSANU National President and their branch chairman are not being truthful in their position.

“Telling health workers to wait for government to release funds for CONTTA allowance, which can take years, while other federal universities continue to use IGR to pay other non-academic staff is disheartening and disappointing. We expect them to fight for health workers in this discriminatory situation,” he said.

The coalition also challenged SSANU’s national leadership and branch chairmen to publicly clarify the eligibility of health workers for CONTTA.

It argued that the allowance was negotiated between the Federal Government and the SSANU/NASU Joint Action Committee and, therefore, entitlement should not be determined by individual university managements.

The group called on SSANU to publish a statement in reputable newspapers affirming that health workers were entitled to CONTTA and issue a circular to all federal universities directing compliance.

It further urged branch chairmen to commence industrial action at institutions where health workers remained excluded from the allowance.

The coalition warned that failure by SSANU to act would raise further questions about its commitment to protecting health workers who contribute financially to the union.

It maintained that its decision to institute legal proceedings against the unions remained unchanged.

CONTTA, according to the coalition, is part of the 2026 agreement between the Federal Government and non-teaching staff unions in public universities and provides for a 35 per cent upward review of emoluments.

The dispute centres on the alleged exclusion of university health workers from the allowance despite their membership and financial contributions to SSANU.