ABUJA — The Federal Government has begun implementation of another key component of its 2025 agreement with university lecturers, releasing the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) covering eight months to academic staff across federal tertiary institutions.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, who disclosed this on Wednesday, said the payment covered the period from January to August 2026 and applied to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Alausa made the disclosure shortly after inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Accreditation, stressing that the release was in line with the provisions of the 2025 Federal Government–Academic Staff Union of Universities agreement.
According to him, the relevant tertiary institutions had been notified to commence payment of the allowance to their academic staff, indicating that the funds had been released for disbursement.
“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,” he said.
CATA is designed to assist academic staff with the purchase of essential tools, materials and other resources needed for teaching, research and related academic activities.
The minister said the government was also processing the payment of the allowance to non-academic staff, suggesting that the implementation of the agreement extends beyond the academic workforce.
