FG Releases Eight-Month Tools Allowance to Tertiary Lecturers

The Federal Government has released the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) covering January to August 2026 for academic staff in federal tertiary institutions.

Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday after inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Accreditation.

Alausa said the payment covered lecturers in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.

He explained that CATA supports academic staff in purchasing essential tools and materials for teaching, research and other academic activities.

According to the minister, the release followed the provisions of the 2025 Federal Government- Academic Staff Union of Universities (FGN-ASUU) agreement.

He added that institutions had received notifications to commence payment to eligible academic staff.

“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.”

The minister also disclosed that the government had begun processing the corresponding payment for non-academic staff.

He expressed optimism that funds for the non-academic staff allowance would become available within the next few weeks.

Alausa linked the latest payment to President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving staff welfare across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

He said the administration had made education workers’ welfare a priority while pursuing wider reforms in the sector.

Beyond staff welfare, the minister said the government had increased investment in infrastructure across tertiary institutions.

He noted that the administration had also directed attention to basic and postgraduate education.

Alausa said the government wanted Nigerian children to receive education that could 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,” he said.

The minister described the administration’s education programme as transformative and commended Tinubu for what he called his commitment to the sector.