Nigeria’s House of Representatives has revealed that it has finalized negotiations with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for the onward presentation of the agreement to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval and implementation.
This was disclosed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday.
He stated this after a five hours closed-door meeting between the leadership of the House and ASUU on Tuesday in Abuja, according to NAN.
What the Speaker is saying
Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila noted that the House has invited the Accountant General of the Federation, the Auditor General of the Federation, the Director General of the National Information Development Agency (NITDA) and his counterpart in the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
He added that they are to appear on Thursday, September 22, to finalise negotiations for onward presentation of agreement to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval and implementation.
Gbajabiamila said, “Based on our deliberations, we are very hopeful that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we thank ASUU for making this time out for the interest of our students.
- “There are principally seven areas ASUU has put forward as conditions for them to go back to class and we have looked at those areas and agreed on certain things.
- “In pursuance to finalise the meeting, we have asked that NITDA, Account General of the Federation, Auditor General of the Federation, Salaries and Wages Commission be invited to meet with the leadership on Thursday.”
The House Speaker added that when deliberations with the accountant general are done, the leadership of the house will await the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from the ongoing United Nations General Assembly.
“We will meet with Mr. President and lay before him the agreements we have reached and we are hopeful that Mr. President will buy into the agreement and with that, this matter will be speedily brought to a close,” he said.
President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke said that following the impact of the meeting held with the speaker, he was hopeful that within the immediate future, the issues will be resolved.
What you should know
- ASUU had on February 14, 2022, embarked on a 4-week total and comprehensive strike to press home their unresolved demands on the federal government.
- ASUU on May 9, further extended its ongoing strike by another 12 weeks to give the government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues after an extension on March 14 due to an alleged lack of seriousness on the part of the federal government.
- The Federal Government’s Briggs renegotiation committee, had since April 2022, been meeting with ASUU and other labour unions in the universities, who are all currently on strike due to its dispute with the government and non-resolution of demands of the 2009 agreements signed with the federal government.
