The Federal Government of Nigeria said that they will pay the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) N30bn before 6th November 2020.
This was in the report from the ongoing dialogue between the Federal Government and ASUU.
The payment is part of the pending Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) of university teachers.
During the meeting on Thursday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige explained that government has agreed to pay the sum of N40 billion.
“The government’s commitment to pay was in response to the demand by ASUU for the payment of two tranches of EAA which cumulate to N40 billion that has become overdue since November 2019”, he stated.
The minister further explained that though the federal government has promised to pay, the parties could not agree on the mode of payment. The Federal Government earlier has appealed to ASUU to adopt the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform.
The Minister further said that the government has agreed to pay by the end of January 2021, the sum of N20 billion as funds for the revitalization of public universities and among other conclusions.
Ngige is optimistic that the various meetings will lead to positive results and ending the ASUU strike.
“At the meeting with the Senate President, we agreed on a work plan to achieve full conciliation so that students would go back to school”, Ngige maintained.
In his reaction, the ASUU National President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi pleaded with the Federal Government to handle the matter as a national emergency as education in Nigeria needs to have a stable and strong system.
It would be recalled that on Thursday, the government has pledged to pay the sum of N40 billion. The remaining N10 billion will flow in two tranches; to be paid on May 2021 and February 2022.
