Strike: FG begins payment of lecturers two-month arrears
- There is a possibility of ASUU suspending its strike any moment from now
- This is as the federal government has begun the payment of two-month arrears
- ASUU and the federal government representatives are currently holding a meeting in Abuja
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If the emerging report is something to go by, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may call off its strike action today, Wednesday, December 23.
This is as the federal government was said to have begun paying two-month arrears of the university lecturers.
Legit.ng recalls that ASUU had in a tweet on Tuesday, December 22, hinted at the possibility of resumption after over nine months of embarking on strike action.
The lecturers' body said it would call off its strike when the federal government "begin payment of withheld salaries" of lecturers.
Source: UGC
Also, the federal government on Monday, December 21, said Nigerian university students would be returning to classrooms by January 2021.
Speaking on the possibility of resumption, the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, disclosed that so far, the level of agreement between the federal government and ASUU is 98%.
In a subsequent development, a university don told The Nation that ASUU leaders would today address a news conference where the lecturers may suspend their strike.
Legit.ng gathers that the meeting between the two parties - ASUU and federal government - is ongoing.
The unnamed professor added that the federal government has been entertaining the demands of ASUU by commencing the payment of the lecturers' arrears after the last meeting with the leadership of the body.
However, some members of the ASUU said the strike may still continue despite the payment of the two-month arrear because the federal government cannot be "trusted".
An ASUU member said:
“We are saying that they should pay four (months) they are owing us. If they pay four, it will remain only one, and then, may be, December; we will minus December which is the sixth one."
FG, ASUU agree on payment of withheld allowance
Earlier, Legit.ng reported the federal government agreed to provide an additional sum of N15 billion to the ASUU. This means a cumulative sum of N65 billion has been provided for the settlement of the lecturers' allowances and the revitalisation of the university system.
During a 7-hour meeting on Friday, November 20, it was also agreed that ASUU will be exempted from the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS) which has been generating hiccups against the end of the strike action.
This is coming weeks after the federal government insisted that the lecturers' body could not determine how it should be paid to its employers.
Parents advice government over ASUU strike | - on Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
