FG Takes ASUU To Industrial Court, Claims Negotiations Have Failed

The raging dispute between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has kept many universities closed for more than seven months, will be heard in the Industrial Court on Monday.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14 to protest alleged infrastructure decay at various institutions, as well as neglect of its members' welfare.

According to a reliable source at the Federal Ministry of Labour, the Trade Dispute Department filed a case before the Industrial Arbitration Court in Abuja last night, and the hearing will begin next Monday.

According to the source, "the federal government has filed a case at the Industrial Court challenging the university teachers' ongoing strike." This complies with Section 17 of the Trade Dispute Act."

A series of negotiations between the federal government and the ASUU leadership have resulted in a stalemate with no tangible outcome.

However, after meeting at the National University Commission's office in Abuja on Tuesday, talks between the federal government and ASUU came to a halt.

The federal government has stated that it will not sign any other agreement that it will be unable to implement.

Malam Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, disclosed this during a meeting of Pro-Chancellors and Vice Chancellors of Federal Universities held at the NUC's office.

Adamu stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had warned the government's negotiating team with ASUU not to sign an agreement that the government would be unable to fulfill.

The minister stated that the government had offered the union a 23.5 percent raise "for all categories of workforce in federal universities, except the professorial cadre, which will enjoy a 35% increase." He also stated that the government promised that N150 billion "will be provided for in the 2023 Budget as funds for the revitalisation of federal universities, to be disbursed to the Institutions in the first quarter of the year."

The government also stated that N50 billion would be set aside "in the 2023 Budget for the payment of outstanding arrears of earned academic allowances, to be paid in the first quarter of the year."

The offer, however, was rejected by ASUU and three other university unions, who described it as "inadequate to meet their respective demands needed to address the challenges confronting the university system."