The embattled Minister Of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige has said that the he proposed one week to resolve the lingering over five months old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) but that his counterpart in the education ministry Adamu Adamu volunteered to resolve the issues with the union in two weeks.
Ngigie, who denied media report that President Muhammadu Buhari ordered him to hands off renegotiations with the striking university based unions said he hopes the issue will be resolved at the stipulated time.
The denial is coming just as the Federal Government has declared the proposed nationwide protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in solidarity with the striking members of the University-based unions as illegal.
But the leadership of the union had blamed the ‘negotiating’ role he had been playing, saying that the Minister had on several ocassions, rather compounded the issues.
Asked if the two weeks directive by the President to resolve the issue is achievable,
the Labour minister responded in the affirmative advising the unions to table their case before the Ministry of Education whom the President has directed to resolve the issue.
the Labour minister responded in the affirmative advising the unions to table their case before the Ministry of Education whom the President has directed to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Ngige has told journalists that there was no veracity in the media report that President Buhari ordered him on Tuesday to hands off renegotiations with the striking unions.
Describing the report as false, Ngige said, “Anyway I saw one of the dailies writing something like that today (Wednesday), but the truth of the matter is there is no such thing ,it’s just a categorical untruth, there is nothing like handsoff .”
NLC had announced that it would embark on a nationwide protest on July 26 and 27 to press home the need to resolve the over five-month old strike embarked by the four university based unions.The four unions are the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT.
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But briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Council Chamber, Abuja, the Minister of information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said since the NLC has no dispute with government, its planned street protest is illegal.
Mohammed observed that what the Congress is doing is about interest, noting that it should insulate itself completely from politics.