The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has denied that it reached an agreement with the federal government, to call off its ongoing strike on December 9, 2020.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, on Tuesday claimed that ASUU promised to call off their nine-month old strike before Wednesday.
Ngige further stated that the government has delivered on offers made to ASUU.
However, ASUU president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, in a statement on Wednesday, made it clear that representatives of the union, don’t have the powers to suspend industrial action.
According to Ogunyemi, they must follow due process, which involves transmitting the outcome of negotiations to members and National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU for further deliberations and actions.
“To put the records straight, the Principal Officers and Trustees who constitute the core of representatives of ASUU at negotiation meetings with the government are not constitutionally empowered to suspend any strike action.
“Whatever comes out of an engagement with agents of the government is an offer that must be taken back to the branches through the various organs of the union,” part of the statement read.
He added that, “this trade union strategy of offer and counter-offer is continually deployed until the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU – consisting of all recognised chairpersons – finally approves what it considers an acceptable offer from the government. It is only then that any strike action by ASUU can be suspended.”
