Osinbajo stresses need for urgent measures to address ASUU strike

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, stressed the need for urgent measures to address the lingering strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The Vice President stated this when some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors visited him at the State House in Abuja.

The union had on February 14, 2022, embarked on a 4-week total and comprehensive strike to press home their unresolved demands on the federal government.

Some of the lecturers’ demands include funding for the revitalisation of public universities, which amounts to N1.1 trillion, payment of earned academic allowances, and adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a preferred payment option,  instead of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), payment of promotion arrears and the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.

The Federal Government’s Briggs renegotiation committee, had since April 2022, been meeting with ASUU and other labour unions in the universities, who went on strike due to its dispute with the government and non-resolution of demands of the 2009 agreements signed with the federal government.

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Addressing the governors, Osinbajo urged the governors to support the Federal Government in the ongoing efforts at addressing the country’s economic problems and the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

He thanked the governors for their visit and good wishes following his recovery from surgery for a knee problem.

The governors on the trip to the State House were Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Muhammad Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa).

Others were Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara), Abubakar Bello (Niger), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa) and the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi, Kelechi Igwe.

He said: “We all need to work together on these critical issues. We need to think through things, and we need to do it fast.”

The Vice President also commended the expertise of Nigerian doctors, and the availability of cutting-edge medical facilities in the country.

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He expressed regret that doctors were restrained by regulations from advertising and as a result many people were unaware of the level of quality medical services available locally.

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Bagudu, who addressed the State House correspondents shortly after the meeting with the Vice President, said the governors were excited that Osinbajo had recovered from the medical procedure.

He said: “We had the opportunity to ask him how capable the team that helped out was and how he would recommend that and how many Nigerians should take steps to find out the amazing opportunities and capacity that are in our medical establishments.

“We felicitated him and we thanked him for his leadership of the National Economic Council.”