By Ibekimi Oriamaja
Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, stated on Thursday that the union was not aware of the N1.2tn that the Federal Government stated would be required to meet the demands of its members.
He also accused Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, of misleading President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) about the union’s strike.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by Olajide Oshundun, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Federal Government claimed that the proposal made by the Prof. Limi Briggs-led committee in response to ASUU and other university unions’ demands would cost N1.12 trillion to implement.
The Punch reported on July 11, 2022, that Buhari had asked the union to reconsider its ongoing strike because it was causing hardship for parents and students.
on Thursday, Osodeke stated that if the President had been properly briefed, he would not have made such a statement.
Concerning the negotiations, the ASUU President stated that the union was unaware of the figure circulated by the Federal Government as the required amount to end the strike.
“I don’t think the President would have said ‘enough is enough, go to your class while we negotiate’ if the committee had properly briefed the President through the Minister of Education,” Osodeke said.
The Labour Minister and his group would have gone to the President and told him that we are chasing him down and refusing to pay his employees.
“We have no idea where they got their alleged figure.” In our agreement or discussion, we never mentioned N1.2 trillion, N2.4 trillion, or anything else. We did not carry it out.
We didn’t figure out how much we’d need. We determined how much each union member will make.
“If the man telling you this figure can lie about ASUU chasing away his members from the bargaining table, why wouldn’t he lie about the figure?”
“The ministry is fabricating figures.” We negotiated with the Education Ministry, so where the documents came from is up to them.”
