ASUU accuses AGF of inaction, threatens fresh strike over unpaid salaries, dues

*The Nigerian Government still owes many of our members in several branches between two and 16 months’ salaries by the Accountant-General of the Federation’s office, says Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, President of Academic Staff Union of Universities

Emmanuel Akosile | ConsumerConnect

For Accountant-General of the Federation’s (AGF) purported refusal to pay the salaries and remit the check-off dues of over 1,000 staff for 13 months, the Nigerian University lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), again,  have threatened to begin a fresh strike.

Dr. Lazarus Maigoro, Chairman of ASUU for University of Jos (UNIJOS) branch, who disclosed this development in a statement Saturday, June 19, 2021, accused the AGF of fanning the ember of discord between the Federal Government and ASUU.

The ASUU chief stated the Accountant-General of the Federation’s action is capable of triggering another strike in the country’s University system.

Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, President of ASUU, in a telephone interview Saturday confirmed that “as we speak, they are still owing many of our members in many of the branches between two and 16 months salaries without pay by the Accountant-General’s office.

“As we speak, they are using that (alleged withholding of salaries) to blackmail our members to enroll into the IPPIS.”

Prof. Osodeke also explained: “There are lecturers that they will pay this month, after one or two months they will stop, and all sorts of funny things.

“We have met with the Minister of Labour and employment.

“We even cascaded it to the level of the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, but they (OAGF’s office) seems to be adamant on punishing our members.”

As regards the way forward in resolving the outstanding remuneration issue with the government, he said: “On the issue of the next line of action, our Union has a procedure.

“When it is time, we know what to do. There is a procedure for embarking on a strike and the union will follow that procedure.”

Asked if ASUU has made any attempt to meet with officials from the OAGF, Osodeke replied “we have our principle of engagement with government.

“The agreement we reached in December was brokered by the Minister of Labour and Employment, and we also agreed to meet from time to time to look at the issues.

“We met in May and raised all these issues with the Accountant-General’s Office present at that meeting.”

According to him, “they tried to deny the fact that anybody was owed. And we were able to prove with available data that they were lying and they accepted and agreed to implement.

“If any of our members enroll in IPPIS today, they (OAGF) will pay you the next day, which means that what they are doing is deliberate.

“We have sent the data of our members to them more than four to five times – complete data.”

He further noted: “They will request for one today we will send to them, and the next month our members will still not be paid.

“But if any of our members decides to register, they will pay all their arrears. It is a deliberate attempt. They know the situation.

“They even came last month to request for data and we also sent to them. As we speak, more than a thousand of our members are still being owed 16 months.

He added: “The bursars of each university have sent their documentation and all the corrections to the office of the Accountant-General, yet they are not paying our members. It is a gimmick.

“What they are trying to do is to see how they can blackmail our members by using hunger as a weapon to get them to register on IPPIS.

“It is very unfortunate that they are trying to kill the university system. They are trying to downgrade our university system because of personal reasons, and I think it is wrong.”

Kindly Share This Story