The Federal Government has denied claims that it signed an agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over their long-running dispute.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, told journalists in Abuja on Thursday that the document often cited by the union was only a draft and not an official agreement.
“Let me clear this: the Solicitor-General looked into the agreement and confirmed that government has never signed any agreement with ASUU. This was a draft. The 2021 agreement was not executed by government,” Alausa said.
He explained that a seven-member committee led by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Abel Enitan, has been set up to prepare a counter-proposal that will be sent to the committee chaired by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed before it is forwarded to ASUU.
“ASUU may have the impression that they have an agreement with us, but truthfully, no such agreement was signed,” the minister added.
ASUU, however, has accused the ministry of failing to communicate with them properly, saying this was why they did not attend a meeting organised by the government on Thursday.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, told The Guardian, “We are not part of the meeting because it is their meeting, not ours. When we hold our meetings, we don’t invite government. They didn’t send us an invitation, and we don’t even know the agenda — though we suspect it concerns our issues.”
The disagreement has renewed concerns that the ongoing talks on the 2009 agreement could drag on, with many fearing another disruption to academic activities if the two sides fail to reach common ground soon.
