The federal government has announced the full payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for the period of January to August 2026.
Tunji Alausa, minister of education, spoke on Wednesday
shortly after inaugurating the ministerial committee on accreditation.
CATA is a financial allowance provided to academic staff to
support the purchase of essential tools and materials required for teaching,
research and other academic activities.
Alausa said the payment was in accordance with the
provisions of the 2025 Federal Government–Academic Staff Union of Universities
(FGN/ASUU) agreement and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to its
implementation.
“The Office of the Minister of Education is happy to
announce that the full CATA payment has now been released by the Federal
Government from January to August 2026 to all universities, all polytechnics
and colleges of education,” Alausa said.
”All these institutions should have received notification to
start paying CATA to all academic staff.
”And also, the payment to non-academic staff, we’re hoping
that these funds will be made available, hopefully, in the next few weeks.”
The minister described the payment as another indication of
President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving the welfare of academic and
non-academic staff in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
“President Bola Tinubu made a commitment to ensuring that
the quality and welfare of our staff are prioritised. He has prioritised the
welfare of our staff,” he said.
Alausa said the administration’s education reforms extended
beyond staff welfare, noting that significant investments were also being made
in infrastructure across tertiary institutions, as well as in basic and
postgraduate education.
He added that the administration was committed to ensuring
that Nigerian children receive quality education that can compete with
standards anywhere in the world.
“This is a President that believes so much in education. He
has delivered beyond his promises to ensure that every single child in this
country gets the highest quality of education comparable to anywhere in the
world,” Alausa said.
BACK STORY
In June, the federal government said it has released funds
for the payment of five months accumulated CATA to eligible lecturers across
universities.
In a circular dated June 4 with reference
FME/IS/UNI/C.98/Vol.2/14 and addressed to vice-chancellors of federal
universities, Alausa said the payment was in furtherance of the federal
government’s commitment to effective implementation of the renegotiated
agreements with ASUU.
The development follows complaints by the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) over what it described as the government’s
“haphazard” implementation of the renegotiated agreement on earned academic
allowances (EAA).
Chris Piwuna, president of ASUU, told TheCable that the
unpaid EAA had stretched to 18 months as of May.
His comment comes amid growing agitations across ASUU state
chapters, warning the government of imminent industrial action if the
renegotiated agreements signed with the union are not fully implemented.
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