ASUU To Declare Lecture-Free Day Over Withheld Salaries

Category: Education News

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will declare a lecture-free day across tertiary institutions to express its reservations about the half-payment of its salaries.

Moyosore Ajao, chairman of ASUU at the University of Ilorin, confirmed the development on Sunday.

ASUU had embarked on strike in February, which was later suspended following a court order in October.

Prior to the suspension of the strike, amid the back-and-forth deliberations over the demands of the lecturers, the federal government had threatened to invoke the ‘no work, no pay’ policy — a decision the government later said would be reconsidered.

But after the suspension of the strike, the lecturers said they got part-payment of one month’s salary.

Commenting on the development, Olajide Oshundun, head of press and public relations at the federal ministry of labor and employment, said ASUU members were paid their October salary pro-rata and not half salary as reported.

“They were paid pro-rata according to the number of days they worked in October,” Oshundun had said.

ASUU had criticised the federal government’s decision on the salaries, while Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, had said interventions are being made to resolve the issue.

Speaking on the planned lecture-free day, Ajao told The Cable that it won’t be on the same day for all institutions.

“It won’t be at the same time. Every branch will do their own on a different day. It’s just within the campus. It’s just making a statement,” he said.