FG Announces Payment of January-August Tools Allowance to Varsity, Polytechnic Lecturers

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.