The management of Abia State University, Uturu, has suspended Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, over comments he made on Facebook concerning the welfare and pay of lecturers at the institution.

The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the university’s Deputy Registrar and Public Relations Officer, Chijioke Nwogu.

According to the statement, the suspension followed concerns over social media posts attributed to Nwaeze.

“The suspension follows concerns arising from various social media posts attributed to Professor Nwaeze, which are inimical to the interests of the University and uncomplimentary to the Visitor of the University,” the statement partly read.

Nwaeze had, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, alleged that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at ABSU were among the least-paid university lecturers in Nigeria.

He claimed that lecturers at the institution were still being paid under the 2009 ASUU-Federal Government salary structure while being taxed according to the 2024 tax rate.

The lecturer further alleged that the 2024 ASUU-FG salary structure had not been implemented at ABSU, while another salary structure approved in December 2025 and effective from January 1, 2026, was also yet to be implemented.

Nwaeze also alleged that lecturers promoted between 2023 and 2026 had not received salaries corresponding to their new ranks.

He claimed that some members of staff were owed outstanding salaries dating back as far as 44 months.

The lecturer further alleged that union dues deducted from workers’ salaries were not being remitted to ASUU and that lecturers at ABSU had never received Earned Academic Allowances.

According to Nwaeze, about N163 million in cooperative deductions was allegedly being owed by the government.

He also compared the earnings of professors at ABSU with those in federal and most state universities, claiming that professors in the latter institutions earned between N1.3 million and N1.4 million, while their counterparts at ABSU earned significantly less.

Nwaeze questioned the disparity in the earnings of professors at the institution, asking, “Did you know that most professors in ABSU earn less than N400k monthly? At this salary scale, a Keke driver who earns a daily net income of just N15k (many earn N20k & above daily) would earn more than a professor in ABSU (N15k x 30 = N450k per month)?”

He also alleged that more than 85 per cent of lecturers at the university no longer drove their cars and that staff members were relying on personal savings, borrowing, rental income and royalties from intellectual property to supplement their earnings and support their work.

He stated, “Hence, rather than receive a subsidy from the government, staff are the ones subsidising the state government.”

In response, the university management said it had constituted an investigative panel to examine the issues surrounding the lecturer’s posts.

“Consequently, Management has constituted an Investigative Panel to consider the matter. The suspension takes immediate effect pending the outcome of the investigation by the Panel,” the university said.