The Senate has requested that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki (APC:Kwara) should intervene to avert a proposed 1 week warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) following Sen. Barau Jibrin’s (APC:Kano) motion brought under matters of public importance titled ‘‘Demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Need for Federal Government to Urgently Engage ASUU to Resolve the Issues in Dispute.’’
Moving the motion, Sen. Barau Jibrin, Chairman, Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND informed Senate of ASUU’s plan to embark on a 1 week warning strike over Federal Government’s (FG) failure to implement a mutually agreed MOU since 2009. He also stressed ASUU’s discontentment over FG’s operations of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which it described as creating bottlenecks to the smooth running of public universities. Sen. Jibrin also expressed worry over the consequences of a full-blown strike in the event that the FG was unable to honour the MOU with ASUU and the implications on Universities as centers for knowledge acquisition and research.
Furthermore, he listed ASUU’s grievances as follows:
- Funding of public universities based on Federal Government-ASUU Memorandum of Understanding in 2009;
- Non-payment of earned academic allowances;
- Shortfall in salaries to academic staff at Universities; and
- Non-payment of Staff salaries in Staff primary schools
He also stated that ASUU had called for an exemption of Universities from the TSA policy and a renegotiation of the 2009 MOU agreement.
In addition to the Senate President’s intervention to avert the strike, the Senate has also urged the Executive to engage in fresh talks with ASUU in view of obtaining recommendations on how best to implement the 2009 MOU agreement and review key demands pertinent to the well being and smooth operation of public universities. The Senate also recommended that all outstanding payments due to ASUU be captured for prompt implementation in the 2017 budget.
