ASUU STRIKE: Saraki secures two-week truce

President of the senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has secured a two-week truce between the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU], to settle some outstanding issues and avert the looming nationwide industrial strike action.

At the resumed negotiation between the Federal Ministry of Education and the leadership of ASUU, held at the national assembly yesterday, Saraki who played the role of a mediator participated in the discussions alongside the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu and the leadership of the union. Odogwublog.com learnt  that  among the three outstanding issues yet to be resolved is the Earned Allowances which ASUU is asking to be paid to its members but the federal government said that N30 billion had already been paid for the purpose.

The government's delegation to the meeting was said to have insisted that the audit of the usage of N3o billion should be made before further fund were released. The senate Committee on Education had at the previous meeting suggested that the government should give universities N1.5billion monthly.

The leadership of ASUU had at the meeting rejected the proposal, saying the amount was too meager to meet the obligations in the university system. The meeting also failed to resolve the issues of paying of the salaries and allowances of the staff of university primary schools as well as the payment of 15 percent of the education budget for each year to the university education committee.