ASUU Threatens Fresh Strike

A fresh strike by university lecturers seems to be looming after the Academic Staff Union Of Nigeria Universities (ASUU) threatened on Saturday to down tools over alleged refusal of the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the salaries and remit the check-off dues of over 1000 staff for 13 months.

The Chairman of the University of Jos branch of ASUU, Dr. Lazarus Maigoro, dropped hint of the fresh strike in a statement in Jos.

He accused the AGF of fanning the ember of discord between the federal government and ASUU, which he said is capable of triggering a strike action.

Corroborating Maigoro in a telephone interview with one of The Nation’s correspondents yesterday, ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke said: “As we speak, they are still owing many of our members in many of the branches between two to 16 months salaries without pay by the Accountant-General’s office.

“As we speak, they are using that (alleged withholding of salaries) to blackmail our members to enroll into the IPPIS. There are lecturers that they will pay this month, after one or two months they will stop, and all sorts of funny things.

“We have met with the minister of labour and employment. We even cascaded it to the level of the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, but they (OAGF’s office) seems to be adamant on punishing our members.

“On the issue of the next line of action, our union has a procedure. When it is time, we know what to do. There is a procedure for embarking on a strike and the union will follow that procedure.”

-The Nation