FG-ASUU Meeting Ends in Deadlock
•Minister to address media today after seeing Buhari
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
There were indications that the latest negotiations between the federal government committee headed by Prof. Nimi Briggs and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may have ended without an agreement.
The meeting which took place at the facilities of the National University Commission (NUC) lasted for about three hours.
At the end, both parties dispersed without uttering a word on it’s outcome.
But reliable sources at the meeting told THISDAY that the issues were not conclusively resolved as to lead to the suspension of the over six months strike by the university lecturers.
According to one of the sources, issues relating to salary increment, revitalisation fund and approval for ASUU’s preferred salary payment platform, University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) formed part of the discussions at the meeting.
However, a source within the ASUU team said the Briggs renegotiation committee did not come with any new offer other “than to plead with the lecturers to suspend the ongoing strike, with promises that their concerns will be included in the 2023 budget”.
He said effort by the committee to reach a mutually acceptable position not succeed, hence the meeting was adjourned to enable ASUU to go back to it’s organs for consultations, while the committee is expected to brief the government through the Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu.
THISDAY sighted a notice to the media from the Media and Publicity unit of the Ministry of Education informing journalists of an impending press conference by the Ministry at the Aso Villa on Thursday.
However when THISDAY sought to know the outcome of the meeting from ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke last night, he declined saying that the union will brief it’s members before making public their position.
“We will brief our members and after that we will let you know our stand”, he said.
He also confirmed that the meeting was purely between the ASUU team and Briggs led committee and that both the Minister of Education and other top government officials were not involved.
