Oyo Assembly seeks Makinde’s approval of 27.5% peculiarity allowance for Non Teaching Staff, TESCOM

Pursuant to a House directive on February 11, 2025, the Committee on Education (Basic & Secondary), led by Hon. Johnson Akintola Ogundele, has investigated a petition titled “Appeal to Save Our Soul on Perennial Agitation.”

This was disclosed by the committee’s chairman, Hon. Johnson Akintola Ogundele, representing Oriire State Constituency, during a plenary session on Thursday.

The committee had met with relevant stakeholders on July 16 and 29, 2025, including representatives from: Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, Ministry of Establishments and Training, Oyo State Post Primary Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU).

The committee’s findings, as reported by Hon. Ogundele, focused on three key issues: Non-payment of peculiarity allowance to Non-Teaching Staff of TESCOM, who were denied the 27.5% Teaching allowance benefit enjoyed by Teaching Staff.

The committee discovered that the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s administration had approved the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Peculiarity Allowance for NASU in 2013.

This committee, comprising representatives from TESCOM, Ministries of Education, Science and Technology, Establishments and Training, and Finance, was tasked with implementing the 27.5% peculiarity allowance for Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) members, similar to that of TESCOM’s teaching staff.

However, the Inter-Ministerial Committee was unable to complete its assignment before Governor Seyi Makinde took office in May 2019. Hon. Ogundele noted that despite numerous appeals, TESCOM and relevant MDAs failed to follow up on the implementation of the peculiarity allowance for Non-Teaching Staff, citing the principle of government continuity.

The committee noted that neighboring states (Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Kwara) pay hazard and peculiarity allowances to non-teaching staff in post-primary schools, with varying percentages (Ogun: 21%, Osun and Kwara: 20%). This implies that Oyo State’s Non-Teaching Staff are entitled to similar allowances.

The committee also found that: Non-Teaching Staff had been excluded from TESCOM’s training and retraining programs for decades due to alleged funding constraints. TESCOM promised to include them in future programs once the Board is constituted. Non-Teaching Staff lack representation on the TESCOM Board, as per Section 3 of the Oyo State Post Primary Schools Teaching Service Commission Law (1992, as amended), which only provides representation for the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).

Following a successful resolution, the House led by Hon. Speaker Ogundoyin seek Governor Seyi Makinde’s approval for the implementation of a 27.5% peculiarity allowance for Non-Teaching Staff of TESCOM, similar to that of teaching staff.

It equally urged TESCOM to prioritize the inclusion of Non-Teaching Staff in training and retraining programs to bridge capacity gaps.