Posted by The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, is accused by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, of misleading the union into calling off the strike. The House of Representatives has replied to this claim.
Ben Kalu, the House’s spokesperson, claimed in a statement on Wednesday that the speaker never agreed to pay the lecturers’ back arrears.
It will be noted that the House’s involvement caused the lecturers’ eight-month strike to be called off.
Additionally, ASUU was required to halt the strike by the National Industrial Court. The no-work, no-pay approach was also imposed upon by the government.
In an interview on Tuesday, Prof. Osodeke claimed that Gbajabiamila had broken the terms of the settlement made with the union.
In response to the claim, Kalu stated that the House of Representatives’ Speaker “never committed to offset the arrears of salary owed to union members for the time they were on strike.”
He said that the 2023 Appropriation Bill, which includes N170 billion to give an increase in the welfare package for university academics and an additional N300 billion in revitalization funds, reflects the House’s commitments.
Because of the ASUU President’s “bad-faith attitude to discussions,” Kalu claimed, “the universities were on strike for such a long time.” He added that “his affinity for political brinkmanship” was a major factor.