Breaking: ASUU to resume strike over ‘unpaid 10-month salary’

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday, accused the Federal Government of breaching a “no victimisation clause” agreed upon during the dialogue that led to the suspension of its strike.

Chairman of University of Ibadan (UI) chapter of the union, Professor Ayo Akinwole, claimed that the Federal Government and the Accountant-General of the Federation were victimising members by allegedly refusing to pay them “salaries running between two to 10 months despite suspending the strike.”

The alleged refusal, according to ASUU, could lead to another strike in future, stating that while members “are back to their duty posts, the harsh economy being experienced due to unpaid salaries and non-refund of deducted check-off dues will affect productivity.”

The association stated in a statement that government “refused to remit union deductions with a plan to stifle it.” ASUU said: “While government is paying outstanding five months salaries for those on nominal role at an agonisingly slow pace, over one hundred UI academic staff are being owed salaries ranging between two and ten months.”

The don further claimed that those newly employed in February 2020 had not received any “dime because they maintained their stand to reject enrolment on the IPPIS.”

Akinwole stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration “has continued to show that it cannot obey the rule of law by continuing to deduct housing funds from ASUU members who have not subscribed to the scheme and also refused to refund same to respective accounts.”

He continued: “On December 23, 2020, ASUU conditionally suspended (with effect from 12:01am on Thursday, December24, 2020) its nine-month old strike, which it began on March 23, 2020 owing to the failure of the Nigerian government to address the outstanding issues as outlined in the collective bargaining agreements of 2009,2013,2017 and 2019 freely reached and signed between the government and ASUU.”

“The suspension of the strike was based on an agreement reached and a ‘Memorandum of Action’ signed in good faith between the government and ASUU at the stakeholders’ meeting held on the Tuesday, December 22,2020. A major common position agreed to (and expected to be respected) by the government and ASUU was that nobody shall be victimised in any way whatsoever for his/her role in the process leading to the Memorandum of Action.”