The leadership of the House of Representatives will meet President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday over the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
A top Presidency source said on Sunday that the lawmakers
are scheduled to present to Buhari their recommendations from meetings they had
with stakeholders on the strike.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi
Gbajabiamila, said the House will prepare the report of the House’s
intervention in the ongoing strike and meet the President on the matter.
Speaking at the last meeting of the House Leadership with
stakeholders comprising members of ASUU and representatives of the Federal
Government, the lawmaker said the report will reflect their interactions on the
FG-ASUU face-off and provide recommendations to enable the President to assess
the situation from an informed second option.
Gbajabiamila, however, did not disclose when his team will
meet the President.
“We will put together our recommendations and our thoughts
and take it to Mr President, that is why we are here to interface and look for
solutions,” he had said.
However, the Presidency source, in an interview with one of
our correspondents, said, “The leaders of the House of Representatives are
scheduled to see the President in the coming week. They are on the programme.
The President will receive them at 3pm on Tuesday.”
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has
advised the leadership of ASUU to stop directing its members to continue with
the strike in defiance of the interlocutory injunction by the National
Industrial Court which restrained the union from further action.
This call was contained in a statement by the ministry’s
Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Olajide Oshundun, on Sunday.
Ngige had accused the union’s leadership, saying, “The union
is dishonest and misleading its members and the general public, that it has
filed an appeal as well as a stay of execution of the order of National
Industrial Court on September 21, 2022, though it has not.
“Rather, ASUU only applied for permission to appeal the
order. Also attached to the application, is a proposed notice of appeal which
it intends to file if the leave to appeal is granted. The application for a
stay of execution as of this moment has not even been listed for hearing. Where
then is ASUU coming from?
“It is therefore contemptuous, dishonest and misleading for
the union to tell its members that it has not only appealed the interlocutory
injunction by the National Industrial Court, directing it to call off the
strike and return to work but that it also has a stay of execution.”
The minister, in a separate statement, also denied walking
out in a meeting between the House of Representatives and ASUU.
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