Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, of advising the Federal Government to proscribe the union.
ASUU Chairman, University of Calabar (UNICAL) branch, Dr. John Edor, spoke, yesterday, shortly after the union’s congress meeting in Calabar.
Describing the move by the minister as totally out of place, Edor said the government should be thinking of how to end the over eight months strike.
He said: “A government official like Ngige should not be talking about proscribing the union at a time like this. The minister himself participated in this truce in a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Any government official still thinking in that direction should re-trace his/her steps in the interest of the country.”
He said following intervention by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the union agreed to meet and decided to adjust their positions and reached an agreement between the union and Federal Government.
“We need to process this outcome through various organs and the final decision will be taken at the National Executive Council of ASUU.
On the registration of the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Lecturers in Academics (NAMDA) by the Federal Government, Edor described the act as totally wrong.
“There is a precedent where a group of persons came together, applied to be registered as a union, and the same Ministry of Labour told them they could not be registered because there was already an existing union that caters for their needs.
“”It is illegal to have registered the two unions. In Unical, we have no members of CONUA. There is no need to divide ASUU, instead solve the problems that ASUU is asking you to look into,” he said.
Source: Guardian.ng
