Breaking: ASUU Suspends nine-months strike

The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) on Wednesday called off its strike, ending a protracted industrial action that started since March 2020.

ASUU National President, Biodun Ogunyemi made the announcement during a briefing of the union in Abuja.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, had Tuesday, revealed that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is expected to call off its strike action in January 2021.

This follows the progress in negotiations between ASUU and the Federal Government, which Ngige said had reached 98%.

Ngige said, “We have met about 98 percent of the request of ASUU. Some 5 to 2 percent is what you can call promissory notes. So, I am very hopeful that by midnight today, there are some works we are supposed to get on to do. They also have some work they are supposed to do on their own side with their people.

“Tuesday, we will meet in the afternoon and we will compare notes. We will put everything on the table and compare. I believe that we might have come to the end of the strike when we meet tomorrow. Well, it is a journey of a thousand miles which you will have to take one step first. Tomorrow, all things being equal, we will agree now to agree because we were disagreeing before.”.

ASUU embarked on a nationwide industrial action on March 23, 2020, following its dispute with the Federal Government over their insistence on the implementation of the IPPIS in the payment of University lecturers’ salaries and allowances, as against the ASUU-developed homegrown payment platform, UTAS, which they believe guarantees the autonomy of the university.