Nigerians Shouldn't Blame FG For ASUU Strike - Minister

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday, absolved the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of any blame in the ongoing strike, saying the president has done all within his powers to meet the offer of the university’s union.

The minister who spoke on Channels TV Politics Today stated that Nigerians have no reason to be disappointed with the government on the issue.

He said, “If Nigerians are disappointed, I think they don’t have very good reason to be disappointed with the government on this issue.

“Why should they be disappointed? Just tell me why it is the fault of the government and not that of the union. You can only blame the government if it refuses to satisfy their demands.”
Adamu, in the interview, further outlined the Federal Government’s efforts to resolve the industrial action saying that the government has proposed a one-time package for the striking lecturers, explaining that it won’t be paid in instalments, unlike previous agreements.
He said, “The agreement we reached or the position of the government that I offered is something government can pay if they say they will agree.

“There is an increase in salary for university staff, 23.5% for all categories of the workforce in Federal Universities and 35% for professors. The same applies to Polytechnics and Colleges of education. There is another 150 billion for rehabilitation and for earned allowances.

“There is also the issue of platform to be used for payment of salaries, the president is now waiting for the report of the technical committee set up to look into the three platforms. From what I have seen, the U3PS is probably the best followed by UTAS and then IPPIS. The acceptance of the IPPIS depends on the report given to the president.”

The education minister further noted that the new salary review will be included in the 2023 budget while adding that the strike action triggered the review.

He said, “The new salary will be in the 2023 budget. It has been captured which means it won’t be paid immediately.

“There is currently a backlog of payments being done with the IPPISS platform. The new platform to be adopted might be a combination of the three platforms under review.

“The new increment is based on the government decision to increase salary. The best idea for any salary increment is inflation and for a very long time, there has not been any review.
“The crisis now probably triggered the government to start with the university people and probably when the economy improves, it will be done across all sectors.”