ASUU refutes rumours of strike, says it is malicious

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has dismissed rumours of a fresh strike by lecturers, ValidViewNetwork reports.

There have been insinuations making the rounds that the union is considering a fresh strike over the ruling of the industrial court on withheld salary of the university lecturers following their 8-months strike last year.

At the national executive council (NEC) meeting of the union held at the University of Maiduguri, on August 19, ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke revisited the issue.

Osodeke said the ‘no work, no pay’ policy ignored the fact that only the teaching component of academic work was suspended during the strike.

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Reacting to the insinuation, Osodeke described the reports as “malicious and unfortunate”.

“We never mentioned the issue of another strike. Are we looking to create confusion? I’m just confused,” he said.

Among the issues raised during ASUU’s NEC meeting in Borno were promotion arrears.

The union traced distortions in promotion arrears to the forceful enrollment of academics on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information System (IPPIS).

Osodeke said the job racketeering scandal uncovered in the IPPIS has “eroded university employment tradition”.

He said ASUU received reports of mass exit of academics from public universities due to poor working conditions.

“We call on the new administration to save our nation by rejecting the pervasive neo-liberal policies that have brought untold hardship on academics, the working class, and all underprivileged Nigerians,” Osodeke said.