BY: News Peddlers
The striking Academic Staff Union of Universities will file an appeal against the National Industrial Court's decision to order its members to return to work on Friday (today).
Femi Falana (SAN), counsel for ASUU, revealed this in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 to press its demands for increased university funding and a review of lecturers' salaries, among other things.
On Wednesday, Justice Polycarp Hamman ordered the union's members back to work.
"We are filing the appeal tomorrow (Friday) morning," Falana told The PUNCH. "The appeal will be filed on Friday morning."
Meanwhile, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities has stated that the dispute between the Federal Government and ASUU should not be taken to court.
In response to the court order ordering ASUU to return to class, CVCNU chairman Prof. Samuel Edoumiekumo stated, "The matter is not a court issue." Because it is a knowledge-based job, lecturing is not something you force people to do.
"The best way is to understand one another." What will happen if you go to class now as a student and you are not given knowledge? We are pleading with ASUU, FG, and other stakeholders to convene for dialogue and resolution."
FG has declared war.'
According to Ebonyi State University's ASUU Chairman, Ikechukwu Igwenyi, the Federal Government has declared "war" on union members with the court order.
As he pointed out, the government's "no work, no pay" policy demonstrates the authorities' lack of understanding of the nature of the contract between lecturers and their employees.
"The NIC ordered ASUU to call off the ongoing strike and return to the classroom with empty stomachs and unpaid bills pending the outcome of the Federal Government's suit filed against the union," he said in Abakaliki on Thursday.
IPPIS and UTAS Payment system failed.
The House of Representatives leadership has summoned the Federation's Secretary to the Government, Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; the Federation's Head of Civil Service, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan; and the Federation's Director-General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, among others, to discuss the lingering crisis.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, and Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, led chairmen of relevant committees to another meeting with Yemi-Esan, Nta, and other top government officials on Thursday.
The National Information Technology Development Agency informed the House leadership during the meeting that the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System, the University Transparency Accountability Solution proposed by ASUU, and the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System had failed integrity tests.
CONUA's National Coordinator, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, in a statement on Thursday, Stated that the Congress of University Academics, a group of academic staff in the country's public universities, has urged vice-chancellors to reopen universities across the country immediately in light of the industrial court's decision.
(PUNCH)