Federal Government on Tuesday blamed the leadership of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) for failing to submit templates for accessing its share of the N23 billion earned allowances.
Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment stated this while reacting to the ongoing nationwide industrial action declared by the unions. Ngige further argued that Federal Government has not only fully met all the 12-point condition raised in the Memorandum of Settlement reached with the unions, on September 20, 2017, but has also complied faithfully with the timelines for the implementation of the agreement.
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The Minister who urged the striking unions to call-off the ongoing indefinite strike emphasized that the unions under the aegis of Joint Action Committee can “make a fresh case in respect of its reservation on the implementation of the Point One of the Agreement concerning the disbursement of the N23 billion Naira Earned Allowances.” Ngige also urged Nigerians not to blame the Federal Government for what the striking unions termed the “skewed disbursement formula” for the N23 billion Earned Allowances released by the Federal Government.
“The Joint Action Committee of Non-Teaching Staff came with twelve-point demand. We sat over it and agreed on all, on September 20, 2017. As I speak, the Federal Government has fully implemented the major contemporary issues such as payment of shortfalls, registration with PENCOM etc. in the agreement. “The only grievance the unions have today is that the modality for the disbursement of the N23 billion the Federal Government released for the settlement of earned allowances is skewed against them.
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“But I advised them during the negotiation to call off their strike when it entered the fifth day and quickly forward their own template for accessing this N23 billion meant for the academic and non-academic staff of the universities since the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had already submitted. They bluntly refused and dragged the strike for weeks.” The Minister, however, said that nothing has been lost and urged the unions to make a fresh case for inclusion in the 2018 budget, adding that the Federal Government was willing to address this.
The Minister who flawed the union’s argument that “they only resumed an old strike,” maintained that “a strike which has been adequately conciliated, called off, and the terms of agreement implemented, cannot yield itself as a basis for the resumption of the same action. “If the unions under JAC are embarking on a fresh strike, they are yet to comply with the relevant sections of the Labour Laws for embarking on action.” To this end, Ngige warned the “unions to stop misguiding their staff members and avoid pushing the Federal Government to a situation where it will invoke the relevant section of the labour laws on No work, No pay, saying it will be disastrous in the season of Christmas and end of the year if implemented.”
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
