The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, is accused by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, of misleading the union into calling off the strike. The House of Representatives has replied to this claim.
Ben Kalu, the House’s spokesperson, claimed in a statement on Wednesday that the speaker never agreed to pay the professors’ back arrears.
It will be noted that the House’s involvement caused the lecturers’ eight-month strike to be called off.
Additionally, ASUU was required to halt the strike by the National Industrial Court. The no-work, no-pay approach was also imposed upon by the government.
In an interview on Tuesday, Prof. Osodeke said that Gbajabiamila had broken the terms of the settlement made with the union.
Responding to the allegation, Kalu said at “no point did the Speaker of the House of Representatives commit to offset the arrears of salaries owed to union members for the time they were on strike.”
He said that the 2023 Appropriation Bill, which includes N170 billion to give an increase in the welfare package for university academics and an extra N300 billion in revitalization funds, reflects the House’s pledges.
Kalu, therefore, accused the ASUU President of “bad-faith approach to negotiations”, adding that “his affinity for political brinkmanship are significant reasons the universities were on strike for so long.”
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