In a statement released by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja which ended this morning, the Union stated that it has extended the ongoing strike action by four weeks.

The Union stated that it had not heard anything from the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, despite the two weeks that the President Muhammadu Buhari gave the Minister to resolve the strike action, which elapses on Tuesday. And also wondered why it took the President five months before eventually directing the Minister for Education to address the Union’s demands.

The ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, in the statement indicated that the ongoing trial of the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, on allegations of ‘monumental fraud” vindicated the Union’s rejection of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS).

The Union also called on the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), to release reports of the latest tests on the Union’s proposed University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) alongside and as opposed the IPPIS without further delay.

The Union also vowed to resist by every legitimate means, any attempt by the government to truncate the deployment of UTAS. That all the Union is requesting for is to ensure that the nation’s public universities are globally competitive, arguing that the disposition of the country’s political leaders towards the education sector had worsened the high level of insecurity in the country.

The Union insists that the non-signing of the draft renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, more than one month after Prof. Nimi Briggs-led Committee concluded its assignment, is a test of its members’ patience nationwide.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) was also commended in the statement, for standing by the Union through a two-day solidarity protest it embarked on last week across the nation.

“The unceremonious closure of educational institutions in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), following the recent attack on Presidential Guards, betrays a panicky measure to addressing a malignant ailment.

“Nothing short of a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s security architecture will sustainably address the problem.”

It added: “Following extensive deliberations and taking cognisance of government’s past failures to abide by its own timelines in addressing issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA), NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for four weeks to give government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.

“The role-over strike action is with effect from 12.01 a.m. on Monday, August 1 2022,” ASUU said.

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