Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige has slammed ASUU for inflaming anti-government sentiments in order to gain support for its impending strike.

In response to the lecturers’ threat to go on strike again to protest their unmet demands, which include full implementation of their 2009 agreement with the Nigerian government, Ngige claimed that the Buhari-led administration is following through on the Memorandum of Action signed in 2020 with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

To demonstrate commitment to the MoA implementation, the Minister claimed that the federal government disbursed N70 billion in 2021 for both Revitalisation of Public Universities (N30 billion) and Earned Academic Allowances (N40 billion), adding that ASUU members are stirring up anti-government sentiments in order to gain sympathy for their planned strike.

He said; “It is not true. They have taken their Earned Academic Allowances for 2021. It was mainstreamed in the budget of 2021 and they got it.

“We paid N22.72 billion which was mainstreamed in the 2021 budget. And they have collected the one of 2020 where they got N40 billion and shared it between them and other unions. They got it in January 2021.

“When they called off theeir strike in December 2020, the release of funds was one of the agreements. They were paid N40 billion and another N30 billion for Revitalisation of Public Universities during the first quarter of 2021, bringing the total to N70 billion.

“If they say the EAA is not in the 2022 Budget, why don’t they allow the government to do a Supplementary Budget? There is a parameter that we use to calculate it. That parameter changes every year and it is the budget office that is calculating it.

“Maybe by March the Budget Office would have known what the parameter will be and put it in the 2022 supplementary budget. The EAA they got in 2021 was in the supplementary budget.

“We are implementing the MoA, we have been implementing it religiously. When they (ASUU) are talking like that, I don’t like it because they are talking just to whip up sentiments.”

Ngige also requested that ASUU leadership meet with its principal employer, the Federal Ministry of Education (FMoE), to discuss the status of the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement re-negotiation.

He further claimed that the report of the Prof Munzali Jibril-led Committee was not sent to him or the Presidential Committee on Salaries for review.

Ngige said, “They are supposed to write to their minister, who is their employer, and tell him these things you are saying. When there is a breakdown in discussion that is when it comes to the federal ministry of Labour.

“They (FMoE) have not sent us any report either at the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS) or have they sent anything to me as minister of Labour.”

He stated in response to a question about holding a meeting with ASUU, “It is up to the Federal Ministry of Education to call me. Then I will call a meeting.

“I have forwarded their complaints to the Education for them to engage them. I have forwarded a letter to the ministry of education today (yesterday).”

Ngige also stated that he has forwarded ASUU’s response to the FMoE, National Universities Commission (NUC), and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning on the assessment of the University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS) carried out by National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA).

He said, “They have written their own reply to the defects that NITDA pointed out in the UTAS. NITDA said utas is not ready for usage and pointed out the things they want them to rectify.

“When NITDA did that I was the one who communicated to ASUU. I didn’t start waiting for their employers to do so just to fast-track the negotiation.

“I forwarded to ASUU, Finance, and NUC. The Ministry of Education is supposed to have gotten its own copy.”