ASUU has asked the the federal government to show concrete evidence of commitment to agreements on meeting its demands
The union said it would communicate its decision on offers made by the government on Tuesday, January 15
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday, January 14, urged the federal government to show concrete evidence of commitment to agreements on meeting its demands on its on-going strike.
Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU President, said in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the union would communicate its decision on offers made by the government on Tuesday.
Ogunyemi said that contrary to some media reports, the media reports, the union did not reject the offer of federal government or make fresh demands.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, after meeting with the union on Jan. 4 said government was about resolving the dispute with the lecturers who embarked on strike on November 5, 2018.
Ngige said the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant- General of the Federation had provided evidence that N15.4 billion for the payment of salary shortfall in public universities.
He also noted that there was evidence that Mr President had approved N20 billion to offset the outstanding arrears of the 2009 and 2012, audit verified earnings in the university system.
Ngige, however, said the fund was being worked on and would be released to ASUU as soon as the process was complete, among other demands of the union.
“We have been reviewing the offer made by the government and we have concluded our consultations with our members.
“We have concluded our consultations and hopefully by tomorrow we are going to transmit the feedback from our members to the Minister of Labour and Employment.
“What we said was that we are not insisting on having the total package.
“We are saying if government could give us one out of the five tranches on the revitalisation fund it will be a kind of bending backward in the interest of the students and national interest.
“So, rather than insisting that government should release a total of one trillion naira which we know is not feasible, government can, at least, give one tranche that can be spread over four quarters, starting with the first quarter now.
“This is the shift that the media are misinterpreting to mean a fresh demand. There is no fresh demand on our list whether you are talking of revitalisation or earned academic allowance,” Ogunyemi said.
On the issue of earned academic allowances, he said government had promised to release N20 billion and that the balance would be spread over four instalments but without stating timelines.
Ogunyemi said members of the union were insisting on having timelines for the payments.
“Our members are also saying government had also promised to mainstream and that promise is not new, it was a promise of 2017.
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