ASUU strike continues, meeting with FG ends in deadlock

A meeting between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government’s negotiation team held Tuesday has reportedly ended in a deadlock.

The striking lecturers had met with the Professor Nimi Briggs Committee, set up by the government, at the National University Commission (NUC) in Abuja with hope of the six-month-old industrial action being called off.

A senior member of ASUU, who spoke to Channels Television anonymously, said that members of the Briggs committee did not come with any new offer on the table.

Instead, the ASUU source said, the committee pleaded with the lecturers to suspend the ongoing strike, with promises that their concerns will be included in the 2023 budget.

According to the source, the meeting, which started at about 12pm, lasted for about three hours without any agreement reached.

“The meeting ended with no end in sight. There were no new matters to discuss”, the source said.

ASUU president, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, had on Monday said that the union would meet with the Federal Government’s team.

READ: No respite for varsity students as ASUU extends five-month-old strike

Osodeke had assured Nigerians that the union would call off the strike if the Federal Government presented a decent proposal.

The spokesperson of the ministry of education, Ben Goong, said the minister, Adamu Adamu, would brief the press on Thursday.

ASUU’s demands

ASUU embarked on a four-week warning strike on February 14.

On March 14, the union extended the industrial action by another two months to allow the government meet all of its demands. A 12-week extension was announced on May 9.

Since May 9, the union has remained on strike, vowing to persist until its demands are met.

The lecturers are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands.

Another is the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The academics had proposed an alternative payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).