Irked by the lingering face-off between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the governing council of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), has said that it may be forced to apply the Federal Governments no-work, no-pay policy.
While the governing council joined other stakeholders in appealing to striking university lecturers in the country to return to classes without further delay, it said failure to do so may force it to adopt the policy.
Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the institution, Dr. Emmanuel Enemuo, during a parley with journalists in Owerri,said there was no reason to continue the strike as the Federal Government has demonstrated enough faith and a strong commitment in addressing the concerns of ASUU. He said the funding of universities generally have been enhanced by the release of the initial N100 billion for
infrastructural development and another N30 billion for the payment of the earned allowances of university staff.
Enemuo said apart from the N30 billion released, the Federal Government has also promised to pay the shortfall, if any, after due verification by the councils of the various universities, which would be captured through subsequent budgetary provisions.
The funds already released, he said, were sourced from
different agencies of government such as the CBN, NNPC, MCC TETFund and other establishments as there was no provision for the expenditure in the 2013 Appropriation Act before the lecturers embarked on strike.
Furthermore, the government has promised to make provision for further intervention in the 2014 Appropriation Act and solicited in advance the cooperation of the National Assembly in
this regard, he pointed out.
The pro-chancellor said TETFund is poised to release the 2013 normal intervention to universities now that the boards of the institutions have been reconstituted, adding that the amount
contributed by TETFund did not affect the annual normal intervention by the agency.
