Latest ASUU Strike Update For Today 12th October 2022

Latest ASUU Strike Update For Today 12th October 2022

Flippstack has compiled the Latest ASUU news on the current strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),  a Nigerian union of university academic staff. Latest ASUU Strike Update For Today 12th October 2022

This means the latest asuu strike news, asuu strike update today, asuu news, asuu latest strike news, asuu latest news on resumption, asuu strike update, and all asuu news stories compiled by Flippstack can be accessed on this page

Below is the latest Asuu strike update, asuu latest news on resumption and ASUU strike news today, Wednesday, 12th October 2022

Latest ASUU Strike Update For Today 12th October 2022

Strike: ASUU To Hold Emergency Meeting On Thursday

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has scheduled Thursday for an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

The leadership of ASUU is expected to review the positive response from the federal government to its demands.

The NEC meeting is expected to be held at the union’s headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Flippstack Earlier reported that ASUU directed its zonal branches to collate the views of members through votes during meetings which will be held on Wednesday (tomorrow).

The outcome of the meeting would determine if ASUU would call off the strike late on Thursday or Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the President of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke has denied the report that the union has called off the lingering industrial action.

There had been reports online claiming that ASUU directed its members to resume academic activities on October 17.

Osodeke, while speaking on the report, said the strike which is almost eight months is yet to be suspended.

He, however, stated that ASUU is working towards the suspension of the industrial action, adding that the suspension would be dependent on the views of members from the zonal meetings.

Recall that ASUU on Monday after meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila stated that the strike would be suspended very soon.

The development was also confirmed by counsel to the union, Femi Falana (SAN).

ASUU Reveals When Strike Will Be Called Off

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has said the union can call off its industrial action in a few days.

Flippstack reports that ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, 2022, to press home an improved academic environment and welfare of members, funding of the Revitalisation of Public Universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), and promotion arrears.

Speaking during a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives in Abuja on Monday, ASUU President said the strike would come to an end soon.

While commending President Muhammadu Buhari, Osodeke stated that strikes by the union should not be allowed to linger.

He said: “In a few days, we will put this strike to an end. Let all of us working together and the members of the House of Representatives working together, put a beautiful end to this thing we have started so that every Nigerian will be proud that we have the universities we can be proud of.

“We also extend our appreciation to the President for intervening in the ASUU strike. And I want to appeal that in future we should not allow the strike to linger. Strike should not go beyond two days; if the way the National Assembly has intervened, if we had done that long ago, or if those in charge of Labour and Education had done exactly this, we would not have stayed more than two or weeks on the strike.

“Strike is all over the world, UK, U.S. all over, but they don’t allow it to last. So, once again, thank you very much and we hope that working together, in the next few days, we can put an end to this particular imbroglio in the Nigerian educational system.”

ASUU vs CONUA: NLC Writes Ngige, Makes Demand

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for the withdrawal of the certificates of registration recently presented by the federal government to the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Lecturers in Academics (NAMDA).

The NLC in its letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige said the action of the government contradicts the stipulations of the Trade Unions Act.

It also referred Ngige to a previous government action which in 2013 under former Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu and the Registrar of Trade Union, Mrs N. Mbogu, turned own the registration of Academic Staff Union of Inter-University Centres who were members of the already existing Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI).

The government told them that a trade union can’t be registered where one already exists for the same purpose.

The rejection letter dated 9th April, 2013, signed by Mrs N. Mbogu, reads; “Re-Application for Registration of a Trade Union: Academic Staff Union of Inter-University Centres. I refer to your letter dated 13th March 2013 on the above subject and hereby inform you that your association, “Academic Staff Union of Inter-University Centres” can not be registered as a trade union in view of Section 3(2) and 5(4) of the Trade Union Act CAP T.14 of 2004 which stipulates as follows; “S. 3(2): “…no trade union shall be registered to represent Workers or Employers in a place where there already exists a trade union.” S. 5(4) “The Registrar shall not register a trade union if it appears to him that any existing trade is sufficiently representative of the class of persons whose interests the union intended to represent.

“In the light of the above, the class of workers your association intend to represent are under the jurisdiction of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI). You are, therefore, advised to align your members with the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions.”

It will be recalled that amidst the crisis in the education sector, the Muhammadu Buhari-led Government last Tuesday presented a certificate of recognition and registration to the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and the Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Lecturers in Academics (NAMDA).

The presentation was done on behalf of the government, by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige at the Conference Room of the Ministry, Federal Secretariat, Phase 1, Abuja.

But the NLC in its letter to Ngige said the certificates of registration granted to CONUA and NAMDA are nothing but a violation of the country’s labour laws.

ASUU Schedule Crucial Meeting, Set To Take Next Step On Strike, Resumption Update

The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has scheduled an important meeting to consider the possibility or otherwise of suspending its eight-month-old strike.

The meeting, Naija News understands is scheduled for Sunday (today) and top on the agenda is the Appeal Court ruling which ordered the striking lecturers to return to class.

A member of the union who spoke with Daily Post on condition of anonymity on Saturday revealed that the National Executive Council of ASUU would be reviewing the implications of the Appeal Court judgement.

He said, “The Appeal Court ruling will be critically reviewed on Sunday and it is after that that we will know the fate of Nigerian students who have been forced to stay at home for almost eight months due to the Federal Government’s negligence.

“Ngige and the Buhari government failed to understand that even if they force the union to resume work, they cannot force the lecturers to teach the Nigerian students whose future have been jeopardized”.

Recall that ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022, and despite various meetings between the union and the federal government on how to resolve the crisis, no agreement could be reached.

Following the impasse, the government dragged ASUU before the National Industrial Court with the court on September 24, ordering the lecturers to return to the classes while negotiations continue.

Ngige Has Turned It To A Personal Fight – Jega Knocks Minister

Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega has accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige of embarking on a personal vendetta against the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Jega said instead of working on how to resolve the ASUU strike which has been on since February 14, 2022, Ngige by his actions has been creating more problems.

He said the actions being taken by the federal government including the registration of the factional Congress of Nigerian Universities Academics (CONUA) to rival ASUU are simply recipes for disaster.

The former INEC boss made the observations on Tuesday during a programme on Arise TV.

Jega said; “Unfortunately, right now, the minister of labour is not helping matters. He has turned this into a personal quarrel between him and the minister of education on one hand and between himself and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the other.

“While many other people are trying to find a way of addressing this situation so that students can go back to school and ASUU can go back to work, he is busy creating challenges.

“He now took the matter to the industrial court, now today, he now registered two unions and he is trying to proscribe ASUU.

“If this is allowed by this government, I think this is a recipe for disaster and it may really create more problems than it can solve on this matter of strike in the universities.”

Details Of Gbajabiamila’s Meeting With President Buhari On ASUU Strike Emerge

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the lingering industrial action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Gbajabiamila led officials of the House of Representatives to the closed-door meeting with President Buhari in Abuja.

Recall that the Speaker had earlier met with the leadership of ASUU promising to relay their demands to the president.

Gbajabiamila while addressing State House Correspondents at end of the meeting described the meeting with President Buhari on Tuesday as very fruitful.

According to the Speaker, President Buhari during the meeting promised to look into the recommendations of the House aimed at ending the lingering industrial action.

He said, ”Mr President as usual has very good listening ears. He took the report of the House, he accepted it, and we discussed at length, the details of the report. He wanted to go through it himself.

”We have another meeting on Thursday between our good selves and Mr President for his final decision.”

Gbajabiamila that the recommendations submitted to the president were the outcomes of a series of meetings with stakeholders in the nation’s education sector.

According to Mr Gbajabiamila, President Buhari has agreed to go through the report and asked for some days to digest it after which he will make a final decision by Thursday.

He added that the ongoing strike will soon be resolved by ASUU and the federal government. Latest ASUU Strike Update For Today 11th October 2022

ASUU Strike: House Of Reps Leadership To Meet Buhari On Tuesday

In a move to resolve the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the leadership of the House of Representatives will meet President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

Naija News recalls that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had over the last few weeks conveyed a stakeholders meeting comprising members of ASUU and representatives of the Federal Government.

Speaking at the last meeting with the stakeholders, Gbajabiamila said the House will prepare and submit the report of its intervention in the ongoing strike to President Buhari.

He said the report will reflect their interactions with the stakeholders and provide recommendations to enable the President to assess the situation from an informed second option.

In a chat with The Punch on Sunday, a top Presidency source who craved anonymity said the leadership of the Green Chamber will present their recommendations on the strike to Buhari on Tuesday.

The source said the President will receive the House leadership led by the Speaker at the State House, Abuja by 3pm on Tuesday, October 4.

He said, “The leaders of the House of Representatives are scheduled to see the President in the coming week. They are on the programme. The President will receive them at 3pm on Tuesday.”

ASUU strike: Falana asks FG to ‘stop chasing shadows’

Femi Falana, the human rights advocate, says the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) did not engage in contempt of court on the recent verdict of the national industrial court.

Over the weekend, Chris Ngige, minister of labour and productivity, warned ASUU against the consequences of contempt of court.

Reacting to Ngige’s comments, Falana, counsel to ASUU, in a statement on Monday, said the application for the leave of the court of appeal against the injunction is the same as an appeal under the rules of the court.

The human rights lawyer said ASUU cannot be accused of contempt of court because the union is seeking to appeal and stay the execution of the judgment.

“The minister is unaware that the national industrial court lacks the jurisdictional competence to intervene in the resolution of a trade dispute that has not been determined by the industrial arbitration panel,” Falana said.

“However, contrary to the claim of the Minister that the ASUU has not filed an appeal, the application for the leave of the court of appeal to appeal against the interlocutory order of injunction is deemed to be an appeal under the rules of the court of appeal.

“The application is equally accompanied by a motion for stay of execution of the said order. To that extent, the members of the ASUU cannot be accused of engaging in contempt of the order of the national industrial court in so far as they are seeking to appeal and stay the execution of the said order.

“Having exercised their constitutional right of appeal and prayed the court of appeal to stay the execution of the interlocutory order of the national industrial court pending the determination of the appeal, the members of ASUU cannot be said to have engaged in any form of contempt.

“However, instead of chasing the shadow by threatening the ASUU with contempt of court and proscription, the federal government should adopt urgent measures to end the strike that has paralysed academic activities in public universities for the past seven months.

“In particular, the federal government should take advantage of the intervention of the leadership of the house of representatives to resolve all outstanding issues and end the strike as soon as possible.”

‘Accept Integrated Payroll’ – Buhari Govt Implores ASUU

With the promise of enhancing the payment platform to better suit the demands of the lecturers, the federal government has pleaded with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to embrace the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

At a meeting between the union and the federal government on Thursday in the House of Representatives, the Accountant General of the Federation, Sylvia Okolieaboh, made the proposal.

In order to resolve the more than seven-month-old strike, Naija News previously reported that Speaker of the House Femi Gbajabiamila had called for a long meeting with all stakeholders involved in the education sector.

In an effort to put a stop to the strike, the Accountant General stated that the government will work with the union on the subject of pay.

According to him, the government is concerned about the repercussions of allowing ASUU access to a special payment platform provided by other businesses.

He said: “If there are peculiarities in the university salaries system, what we need to do is to sit down with ASUU and identify them and address them in IPPIS. We are willing to accept.”

The House of Representatives has mediated three meetings, and like many of them, this one produced no results. The head of the service, Folashade Esan, the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, and the president of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke, were also present.

Gbajabiamila stated in his concluding remarks that he will assemble all the proposals and provide them to President Muhammadu Buhari as a single report

He said; “We are appealing to you, the Judiciary has spoken, the Executive has spoken, the Legislature is about to speak together with the Executive; everybody cannot be wrong and only one person is right. For me I’m happy with the solution on UTAS, no victor, no vanquished, everybody is being carried along.

“For the sake of emphasis, the House is pleading with you, let’s put all interest aside and look at the interest of our children.”

Strike Can End In Two Days – ASUU President Gives Update, Slams FG

The president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has accused the federal government of not taking the demands of the union seriously.

Speaking on Wednesday, Osodeke stated that the strike by the union members can end in one or two days only if the Nigerian government does the needful.

He alleged that the strike has lingered because the government is simply unwilling to meet the demands of ASUU.

Speaking on the decision of the government through the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige to drag the striking lecturers to court, Osodeke slammed the government saying its action is a wrong move done in bad faith.

“All Nigerians can see that the government is not interested in resolving the issues. Like I have said, these issues can be resolved in just one or two days.

“But they are playing with everything. Why will a minister of labour be going to court when the pro-chancellors are having interaction with the president who promised to get back.

“If you force lecturers to class, how are you sure you will have the best of teaching and research? This can be resolved in one day if the federal government is interested,” the ASUU president maintained during an interview with Arise TV.

ASUU Strike: Benue varsity announces resumption, ASUU kicks

Court Strikes Out NANS’ Suit Against ASUU, FG

A suit filed by the National Association of Students (NANS) to compel the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government to call off the seven months strike has been struck out by the National Industrial Court (NIC).

The suit was struck out on Tuesday by Justice Polycarp Hamman after the factional president of NANS, Umar Faruk Lawal withdrew the case.

Lawal in the suit marked NICN/ABJ/273/2022, had claimed that he filed the case against ASUU and FG for himself and on behalf of NANS.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami were listed as 2nd and 3rd Respondents, respectively in the suit.

Lawal on Tuesday, when the matter was mentioned notified the court that he filed a motion for discontinuance.

The factional NANS president expressed his intention to withdraw the suit on account of the challenge by the student body which contested his standing and denied that he is the President of NANS as he had deposed to.

Though the other two respondents were not represented, however, counsel to ASUU, Marshal Abubakar, informed the court that he was not opposed to Lawal’s application to withdraw the suit. Latest ASUU Strike Update For Today 12th October 2022

ASUU: Buhari Govt Reverses, Asks VCs To Stop Reopening Universities

The Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has withdrawn its circular which ordered vice-chancellors, pro-chancellors, and governing councils to re-open federal universities.

Naija News reports that the Buhari Government gave the new directive on Monday afternoon through the National Universities Commission.

Recall that the NUC had earlier directed Vice Chancellors to immediately re-open all public Universities and allow students to go back to classes.

The Commission had given the order in a letter approved by the Executive Secretary of the commission, Professor Abubakar Rasheed.

In the letter signed by the Director, Finance and Accounts of the NUC, Sam Onazi, the Commission directed the Vice Chancellors to ensure that the striking lecturers immediately resume lectures.

The letter was addressed to all vice-chancellors; Pro-Chancellors and chairmen of governing councils of federal universities.

“Ensure that ASUU members immediately resume/commence lectures; Restore the daily activities and routines of the various University campuses,” the letter partly reads.

But in another circular tagged NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/136, which was also signed by the Director, Finance and Account of the NUC, Sam Onazi, the commission withdrew the order without giving an explanation.

The letter tagged, “withdrawal of circular NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/135 dated September 23, 2022” partly read, “I have been directed to withdraw the NUC Circular Ref: NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/135, and dated September 23, 2022 on the above subject.

“Consequently, the said circular stands withdrawn. All pro-chancellors and chairmen of governing councils, as well as vice-chancellors of federal universities are to please note. Further development and information would be communicated to all relevant stakeholders.

“Please accept the assurances of the Executive Secretary’s warmest regards”