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FG faults ASUU’s claim on payment of salaries before resumption
By Modupe Shodeinde
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has faulted claims of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that government agreed to pay all withheld salaries before it would resume work.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the minister described it as false and discomforting to wrongly inform the the public.
“The truth of the matter is that a ‘gentleman agreement’ was reached at the last meeting in which ASUU agreed to call off strike before December 9, 2020.The minister in turn agreed that once the strike is called off, he would get a presidential waiver for ASSU to be paid the remainder of their salaries on or before December 9, 2020,” the statement said.
He stressed that timelines attached to the various offers made to the union had been complied with.
He stated 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.
“The gazetting is also being rounded off at the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation while the Ministry of Education is ready to inaugurate the various visitation panels.”
He explained that “they were paid for February and March, after which it was extended to April, May and June, months they were on strike on compassionate ground, bringing it to five months.”
The statement added, “Asking the government to pay these four months before it goes back to work means ASUU is placing itself above the law of the land and no government will encourage it as it is a recipe for chaos in the labour milieu.”
