ASUU strike returns loom as FG reneges on agreement

Just two weeks after the Academic Staff Union of the Universities, ASUU, suspended an over nine-month-old strike, there are concerns that the lecturers may lift the suspension 

This is because the university teachers have accused the Federal Government of reneging on the agreement reached with ASUU on salary payment among others.

Confirming the situation, ASUU Chairman at the University of Abuja,  Kassim Umaru, said on Monday, January 4, 2021, that the government was yet to pay their December salaries, while “illegal” deductions have not been refunded.

Umaru, who spoke to reporters, said that the government had “…again failed to honour its agreement on payment of not only the outstanding salaries of members, ranging from five to eight months; Earned Academic Allowances, EAA and check-off dues illegally deducted before December 31, 2020.”

He said that the government made some promises before the protracted industrial action was suspended, but regretted that the current administration had allegedly failed to always keep to its part of the bargain, noting that ASUU national body is gathering report on the situation before taking action.

ASUU had suspended a strike that started on March 28, 2020, following the intervention of stakeholders and the government’s directive to suspend the implementation of the controversial IPPIS for lecturers.

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An effort to get reactions from the Accountant General’s office on the delayed payment of salaries was unsuccessful, as officials were not picking our calls