Nigeria: Strike - ASUU Conducts Referendum Among Members

The national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has conducted a referendum to decide whether to suspend the ongoing 3-month strike or not.

The national leadership of the Union had directed its zonal coordinators to meet with their branch chairpersons to conduct the referendum on the offers of government.

Vanguard gathered that over 200 members of the University of Ibadan chapter of the union who attended the congress voted for the continuation of the strike while a little above 50 voted for suspension with conditions.

Chairman of the University of Ibadan Chapter, Dr Deji Omole said the congress only conducted referendum on the offers of government saying the congress is the principal which guides the leadership of the union on their struggle.

On the new offers, Omole stated that government promised to mainstream the earned academic allowances into salaries from 2019.

He also hinted that government said as a sign of good faith, it will release N25 billion for the revitalisation of universities while the rest will be defrayed after identifying sources to fund it.

Omole, who stated that government agreed to pay additional N5 billion to make the earned academic allowances N25 billion out of the owed N105 billion said ASUU wanted government to pay N30 billion.

According to him, the Federal Government has agreed that renegotiation should commence and end within six weeks.

Sources at the congress, however, informed Vanguard "that members voted for the continuation of the strike because they doubted government sincerity in fulfilling its new promises following the failure of the Buhari administration to fulfill the Memorandum of Understanding until the current strike."