The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is expected to meet on Sunday, August 28, 2022, to decide on whether to call off or continue with the strike.
The striking lecturers during the make or mar NEC meeting will most likely consider the offer made by the Federal Government during their last discussion.
According to Punch, some sources among the NEC members said the meeting will hold at the union’s national headquarters at the University of Abuja.
The proposed meeting is coming on the heels of reports of alleged plans by the Federal Government to proscribe ASUU and drag it to the National Industrial court over strike action.
One of the sources said that the council will take a decision on the industrial action based on reports from the various state congresses.
The source stated, “The NEC meeting will hold on August 28, the four weeks ultimatum that we gave is expiring that same day. We will be making our decisions based on the results of the state congresses.
“The NEC has to depend on the result of the congresses. The zones have held their own congresses; the branch chairmen will also talk to their members and they will get feedback which will be transmitted to the NEC.’’
In a related development, the Federal Ministry of Education on, Monday, denied reports that it was planning to proscribe ASUU, saying that it was aware of such.
The Spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong accused ASUU of being unreasonable after failing to call off its strike despite government’s intervention.
Goong said, “We are not aware of such plans. The minister gave all the updates during his press briefing with State House correspondents. If there were plans to take further steps, he would have noted it.
“As regards the next steps, the government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonise the IPPIS, UTAS and UP3; this will ensure that the government will pay with only one payment platform that will harmonise all the technical peculiarities.
“The government has also rolled out its achievements. A total of N2.5 trillion has been expended in the tertiary education sector in the past 10 years, that is even much more than the amount in the 2009 agreement. The issues about salary adjustment have also been attended to.
“If you bring some demands and almost 80% has been attended to, there is no need to drag the strike anymore. It is unreasonable for the strike to be lingering, seeing as the government has worked towards fulfilling most of the demands.
