ASUU lambasts Ngige, calls him minister of dispute escalation and disinformation
- The crisis between the federal government and the leadership of ASUU has refused to abate
- Implementation of IPPIS scheme has pitched the FG against ASUU
- The union, however, berated the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, over his comments on the ongoing strike
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Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has lambasted the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, declaring him the minister of dispute escalation and disinformation.
Legit.ng's regional reporter in Ibadan, Ridwan Kolawole, reports that the chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Prof Ayo Akinwole, disclosed this in a statement he issued in Ibadan on Tuesday, June 2.
The ASUU leader said that the position of Ngige on the ongoing strike and his "careless talks" has exposed him as someone benefiting from the strike and lacking the leadership qualities to solve the problem on behalf of his principal.
Ngige had stated in his country home that ASUU was on strike because of IPPIS, alleging that the union was running away from the negotiation table, with a threat to drag ASUU to industrial court.
While responding, Prof Akinwole accused Ngige of misinforming Nigerians about the reasons for going on strike. He stated that ASUU is presently on strike because of the failure of the Buhari-led government to honour the memorandum of action it signed with the union on February 7, 2019.
Source: UGC
He said: "ASUU did not reject any invitation to attend a meeting with the government. As a matter of fact, we have been asking the government to let us conclude renegotiation since but people like Ngige seem to benefit more from dispute than when things are normal."
Akinwole listed the reasons for the ASUU strike to include payment of revitalisation fund, payment of the outstanding balance of the earned academic allowances, proliferation and non-funding of state universities and the failure of the government to set up visitation panels to federal universities.
ASUU stated that Ngige should ask President Muhammadu Buhari to honour agreements signed with the union and see if it would not suspend the ongoing strike.
The union added that: "Ngige should be educated that taxes are negotiated by each institution with their states and that is what they pay. It is not for the federal government to fraudulently remove taxes of gross pay. Taxes are only deducted on basic but the IPPIS fraudulently deducted from gross of our members."
The ASUU leader noted that apart from Ngige’s unguarded utterances on the ongoing strike, comments of officials of government to issues affecting the majority of Nigerians have been callous and wicked.
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Akinwole said ASUU leadership has been holding meetings online via technology and would never run away from any meeting that has clearly set agenda for discussion.
He said: "Since February, no one has received the payslip to even know what was deducted. This is a fraud of the highest order. IPPIS has broken all existing laws. It is fraud to deduct money from people who have not indicated an interest in the National Housing Scheme.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the University of Ibadan chapter of the ASUU said it has produced 3,000 reusable facemasks for distribution to her members to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic.
It was reported that the union on Sunday, May 10, said it was important that her members have access to face masks produced following international standards.
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Source: Legit.ng
