ASUU strike to continue as talks with FG ends in deadlock

The meeting between leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government again ended without an agreement.

It means the six-month old strike by university lecturers in the country is set to continue.

The striking lecturers had met with the Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee on Tuesday at the National University Commission in Abuja with high hopes of resolving the impasse.

A senior member of ASUU, who spoke with Channels TV but preferred to be anonymous, said members of the Briggs renegotiation committee did not come with any new offer on the table.

Instead, the ASUU source said, the committee pleaded with the lecturers to suspend the ongoing strike, with promises that their concerns will be included in the 2023 budget.

According to the source, the meeting, which started at about 12pm, lasted for about three hours without any agreement reached.

Recall that ASUU embarked on a four-week warning strike on February 14.

On March 14, the union extended the industrial action by another two months to allow the government meet all of its demands. A 12-week extension was announced on May 9.

Since May 9, the union has remained on strike, vowing to persist until its demands are met.

The lecturers are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands.

One bone of contention for the academics is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, which amounts to about N1.1 trillion.

But the Federal Government has said it doesn’t have the money to pay such an amount, citing low oil prices during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The agreement was struck in 2009.

Another is the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

ASUU had proposed an alternative payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution.