ASUU agreed to call off strike before December 9 - FG

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has maintained that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had agreed to call off their strike before December 9 at their last meeting with the government team.

Ngige made this known via a statement from his media office on Tuesday, titled, ‘We have kept our promises to ASUU – FG.’ He stressed that the Federal Government has delivered on offers made to the union.

The statement read in part, “The N40b Earned Academic Allowances have also been processed just as the N30bn revitalisation funds, bringing it to N70bn. Likewise, the visitation panels for the universities have been approved by the President but the panel cannot perform its responsibilities until the shut universities are re-opened.

This is coming after ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi had blamed the FG for the union’s failure to call off the strike, noting that the lecturers would not return to classes until their salary arrears were paid.

The Minister stated that it was false and discomfiting for ASUU to wrongly inform the public that the government agreed to pay all withheld salaries before it would resume work, adding that the timelines attached to the various offers made to the union had been complied with.