The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has faulted claims by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, that the Federal Government never signed any binding agreement with the union.
Alausa, who spoke on Thursday while addressing journalists in Abuja, insisted that documents often cited by ASUU were only “draft proposals” tabled during negotiations, and not executed agreements.
He explained that while the 2021 documents were deliberated upon, they were never signed by the Federal Government.
“The 2021 agreement was not executed by the government. So, I need to be honest and truthful to Nigerians. ASUU might have an impression that they have an agreement with government. There was no signed agreement,” Alausa said.
The minister, however, assured that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was determined to resolve lingering issues with ASUU once and for all.
“This government is responsive. President Tinubu has mandated us to ensure that any agreement reached will be clean, actionable, and sustainable. Unlike previous exercises where the Ministry of Justice was not involved, we want to do this within the context of our constitution,” he added.
According to Alausa, the government has already set up a high-level technical committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education. The team includes the Solicitor General of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries from Labour and Justice, the Chairman of the National Salaries and Wages Commission, the Executive Secretaries of the National Universities Commission and TETFund, as well as the Director-General of the Budget Office.
The committee, he said, would produce a counter-proposal for submission to the Yayale Ahmed-led committee, which will then present it to ASUU for deliberation.
Earlier this year, the Tinubu administration had released N50 billion for the settlement of earned academic allowances owed to lecturers and other university staff. But ASUU has continued to demand more decisive commitments on salaries, improved conditions of service, university autonomy, and a review of laws governing the National Universities Commission and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
Reacting to the minister’s remarks, ASUU president, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said the government’s position once again highlighted its poor record-keeping.
“The government is very poor at keeping records. Sometimes, you wonder if there is a proper handover from one officer to another,” Piwuna stated.
