The federal government has described as unreasonable the decision of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to extend its ongoing industrial action.
The union earlier on Monday further extended it’s over six months old strike.
The federal Government, however, said the action of the university lecturers’ union was irrational given that it had met 80 percent of the demands of the union.
The umbrella union of lecturers of the nation’s public universities extended the strike after accusing the federal government of failure to live up to its term in the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement it signed with it.
The action of ASUU came after its National Executive Council,NEC meeting which took place at its University of Abuja Secretariat.
Although,the union was yet to come out with official statement or address the media on the fallouts of its meeting which began late Sunday and stretched into early Monday,some members who spoke in secrecy, disclosed that the meeting ended with a resolution to go on indefinite strike.
Reacting to the the Federal Ministry of Education,speaking through its Director of Press and Public Relations,Bem Goong, said the FG had addressed 80 percent of the union’s demands, noting that th the extension of strike was unreasonable.
Goong said:”If you bring some demands and almost 80% have been attended to, there is no need to drag the strike anymore.”
“It is unreasonable for the strike to be lingering since the government has worked towards fulfilling most of the demands.”
Goong,who said the federal government had deployed all measures to end the strike,said: “As regards the next steps, the government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonize the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System,IPPIS, University Transparency and Accountability Solution,UTAS and the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System,U3PS.
He explained that,” This will ensure that the government will pay with only one payment platform that will harmonize all the technical peculiarities.”
Recall that the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu Adamu, had last week, claimed that government had resolved most of the demands ASUU.