The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has revealed that ASUU agreed at their last meeting with the government team on November 27 to call off their nine-month-old strike before December 9.
This was contained in a statement from the media office of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, on Tuesday.
It was in reaction to claims made by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, that the government had failed to deliver on offers made to the union.
The minister who said the Federal Government had delivered on offers made to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, added that the timelines attached to the various offers made to the union had been complied with.
“The truth of the matter is that a ‘gentleman agreement’ was reached at the last meeting in which ASUU agreed to call off the strike before December 9, 2020, and the minister, in turn, agreed that once the strike is called off, he would get a presidential waiver for ASUU to be paid the remainder of their salaries on or before December 9,” Ngige stated.
He added that, “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.”
Ngige also revealed that lecturers were paid for February and March, before an extension was made to the months of April, May and June when they were already on strike, “on compassionate ground”.
