The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have again locked horns over the controversial 2021 agreement.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Thursday in Abuja, insisted that no binding agreement was signed with ASUU, describing the widely cited documents as mere proposals.
According to him, the government remains committed to resolving the lingering issues with university lecturers but wants any agreement to be constitutionally sound and implementable.
Alausa said, “The government side met today (Thursday) at the highest level. I, Minister of State for Education, Minister for Labour and Productivity were all at the meeting. We had the Solicitor General of the Federation.
“The 2021 agreement was not executed by the government. So, I need to be honest and truthful to Nigeria. ASUU might have an impression that they have an agreement with government.
“There was no signed agreement with government. But ASUU they’re good people. Polytechnic, College of Education, non-academic staff union, they’re all good people.”
The minister stressed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration wants a “clean agreement” that is actionable and sustainable.
He added, “But we now have a responsive government that is being led by President Tinubu and you know this president, once he makes his promises, he fulfills every single promise that is made and he has mandated us to do the same. We’ll have a clean agreement, agreement that is actionable, where every content is actionable, implementable in a sustainable manner.
“As I told you, we are going to do this thing once and for all. Previous agreements that had been done with ASUU by the government, the Ministry of Justice was not involved. We want this to be done in a constitutional manner; that every single agreement that we reach with them will be within the context of our constitution.”
Alausa disclosed that the government reviewed ASUU’s proposals line by line, prepared counter-proposals, and has now set up a high-level technical team chaired by the Permanent Secretary of Education.
“The Solicitor General looked into the agreement. The government has never signed any agreement with ASUU. This was a draft agreement,” he clarified.
The seven-member team includes the Solicitor General of the Federation, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Permanent Secretary of Labour and Productivity, Chairman of the National Salaries and Wages Commission, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Executive Secretary of TETFund, and the Director-General of the Budget Office.
They are expected to submit a “clean report” which will be sent to the Yayale Ahmed Committee for onward engagement with ASUU.
Responding, ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, faulted the minister’s position, accusing the government of poor record-keeping.
He said, “The government is very poor at keeping records. Sometimes, you wonder if there is a proper handover from one officer to another.”
