The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), says it has called off its nine-month-old strike with effect 12 a.m on Thursday, December 24, .
ASUU National President, Biodun Ogunyemi, who announced this during a press briefing in Abuja, warned that the union would return to strike without notice if the government fails in meeting its part of the agreement reached with the university lecturers.
Ogunyemi, however, stated that the reopening of the schools, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, lies with the Federal Government and Senate.
The government and ASUU have been at loggerheads over the reopening of public universities in the country.
Both parties have held series of meetings but failed to reach a conclusion for ASUU to call off the strike since February 2020.
ASUU demanded that its members should be exempted from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) pending the approval of the proposed payment system – the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
However, the payment of arrears remained the most contentious issue without agreement between the government and ASUU.
The union insisted on the settling of the arrears of his members’ salaries before calling off the strike.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Tuesday stated that the government has already met 98% of the demands of the ASUU leadership.
As at Tuesday, December 22, government paid lecturers two months’ salaries and the N40 billion Earned Allowance.
