From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Federal Government has advised the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to cease taking laws into its hands by directing its members to continue with the eight-month-old strike in defiance of the interlocutory injunction by the National Industrial Court (NIC) which restrained the union from further action.
In a statement, at the weekend, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said a new directive by ASUU, exhorting its members to continue with action is an unwarranted lawlessness, noting that the Federal Government strongly frowns at it.
He accused the leadership of the union of misinforming and misleading its members and warned of consequences of contempt of court order.
“The union is dishonest and misleading its members and the public, that it has filed an appeal as well as a stay of execution of the order of NIC on September 21, 2022, though it has none of this.
“Rather, ASUU only filed an application for a permission to appeal the order. It also attached to the application, a proposed notice of appeal which it intends to file if the leave to appeal is granted. The application for a stay of execution as of this moment, has not even been listed for hearing. Where then is ASUU coming from?
“It is, therefore, contemptuous, dishonest and misleading for the union to tell its members that it has not only appealed the interlocutory injunction by NIC, directing it to call off strike and return to work, but that it also has a stay of execution.”
The minister, once again, called on the union to respect the court order and return to work while negotiations are concluded on the remaining issues in contention.
The statement also denied reports that the minister walked out on the meeting between the House of Representatives and ASUU on Thursday, September 29, 2022. It said the minister left the meeting to attend to other pressing matters with the permission of the House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, after making his presentation. It stated that the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) was earlier granted such permission by the speaker.
The statement further recalled that at that meeting, Ngige addressed the two major issues over which ASUU is still on strike.
“On renegotiation of salaries and wages of lecturers, I sympathise with ASUU just like other Nigerian workers. The economy is bad and hard time, biting hard on everybody. ASUU deserves no blame.
They know that many times, during reconciliation, I said left to me, this is what lecturers will get. I know the enormity of the work they do and have brothers who are also lecturers.
“The Briggs Committee was the product of reconciliation of my ministry, which had to move to the ASUU’s direct employers, Ministry of Education, for a Collective Bargaining Agreement, so we can arrive on what is good to be paid to ASUU, subject to approval by the president
“The president has a Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages chaired by the minister of finance, with myself as co-chair and other members – National Salaries Income and Wages Commission, Budget Office etc.
“Every ministries, departments and agencies, whether drawing from the treasury or not, must pass through this committee on any issue concerning salaries for approval, before transmission to the president. The report of the Briggs Committee did not unfortunately pass this route.”