We didn’t receive meeting invitation from Ngige – ASUU

By Ibrahim Adeleke

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has maintained that they have not received any official invitation from the Federal Government for the earlier announced meeting with the government team aimed at resolving the areas of disagreements and calling off the strike.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said that the federal government will meet with the ASUU team on Thursday to resolve issues causing the strike.

This was made known by the President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, on Thursday, June 23, and can be seen on the union’s official Twitter account.

The tweet post from ASUU reads: “ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke says his union has not received any official invitation yet, for the supposed Thursday (today) meeting announced by Labour Minister, Dr Chris Ngige.

“Contrary to claims by Ngige that the government will be meeting with ASUU today, which should be followed by positive result, Professor Osodeke says his team is yet to be informed.’’

Recall that on Wednesday, June 22, Ngige, while addressing journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, Ngige said the government will soon resolve the issues causing the strike.

He also said issues concerning the remunerations, payment platforms, welfare, and others will be addressed in the next meeting fixed for Thursday (today).

ASUU had earlier said that reports credited to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, stating that the union’s strike will be suspended this week is false and should be ignored.

The Union clearly stated that the strike can only be called off if negotiation is fulfilled and the union’s president signs it.