The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said on Wednesday its members may withdraw their services in February 2021 if the Federal Government reneged on the agreement between both parties.
The ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who disclosed this while announcing the suspension of the union’s nine-month strike in Abuja, said the agreements reached by both parties are to be met between January and March next year failure of which would trigger fresh industrial actions in the universities.
He added that ASUU would review the implementation of the agreement in February.
Ogunyemi said: “The time frame is a bit elastic. There are some items that are supposed to be addressed in January. There are some others that will drag till March or thereabouts.
“This time around, we have agreed to review the status of the implementation by February. That is our mechanism for monitoring. This was not there in some of our previous agreements.
“What we have done is to give the government the benefit of doubt and that is why we have added the caveat. Should the government renege, our members are not tired of withdrawing their services.”
He said ASUU would ensure that no member of the union suffers any loss of deserved benefits for participating in the strike.
Ogunyemi said the dispute with the federal government on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has also been resolved, adding “we are the last stage of the integrity test of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS),” the alternative salary payment portal designed by the union.
On resumption of academic activities in the universities, the ASUU chief said the lecturers were ready to resume work as soon as full health measures are put in place by the government in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added: “As far as we are concerned, we are ready to resume work. Let the government do what is needed to ensure safety. We insist that the COVID-19 protocols should be observed, and the requirements for observing the protocols should be met.”
