The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has extended its ongoing strike by another 12 weeks at an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at ASUU national secretariat in Abuja.
The extension of the industrial action by three months followed the expiration of its additional two-month warning strike on Monday, Leadership reports.
ASUU national president, Emmanuel Osodeke, confirmed the development when he featured on Raypower FM’s programme, ‘Political Platform’, monitored by our correspondent in Abuja.
Osodeke accused the minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, of stopping the salaries of ASUU members, but approved payment for other unions in the university system, who are also on strike.
He said, “ASUU is extending its action because the government has refused to address the issues.
“The two-month rollover strike declared on March 14, 2022, by ASUU ended today (Monday, May 9), thus NEC felt the need to extend it by 12 weeks after initial agitation for an indefinite strike because of failure to address the issues in contention.”
The implication of the extension of the strike is that public universities would remain closed for another three months.
At the last meeting with the government negotiation team led by Prof. Nimi Briggs, ASUU officials walked out of the meeting, but there is an indication that both parties would meet next week.
ASUU’s grouse with the Federal Government include the non-implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed with the government in December 2020, on funding for revitalisation of public universities (both federal and states), renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ ASUU Agreement and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) platform as against government’s preferred IPPIS.
Other outstanding issues are earned academic allowances; state universities, promotion arrears, withheld salaries, non-remittance of third-party deductions and rejection of UTAS that ASUU technical team developed to replace the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
