ASUU leadership with House Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The House of Representatives has clarified that the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila never promised to offset the arrears of salaries owed to ASUU members for the period they were on strike.
Rather, the House promised to improve the welfare package of the lecturers, as well as funds for infrastructures and operations of federal universities.
The clarifications became necessary following recent remarks credited to ASUU Chairman, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, alleging that the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila deceived the union into calling off its strike action and also failed to honor his written commitment to the union.
In a statement on Wednesday, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu also stated that the House has already reflected those promises it made in the 2023 Appropriation Bill.
The statement was entitled "House of Representatives Response to Osodeke’s Allegations of Deception Against Mr. Speaker," and read:
“On Tuesday, 27th December 2022, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, granted an interview, accusing the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, of using deception to convince the union to call off its strike action.
"He specifically alleged that the Speaker failed to deliver on his written commitment that the government would, without delay, offset the arrears of salaries owed to members of the union for the time they were on strike.
“For the record, at no point did the Speaker of the House of Representatives commit to offset the arrears of salaries owed to union members for the time they were on strike.
"The House of Representatives helped resolve the strike by making commitments to improve the welfare package of university lecturers and revitalization funds to improve the infrastructure and operations of federal universities.
"These commitments are reflected in the 2023 Appropriation Bill, which includes N170,000,000,000.00) to provide a level of increment in the welfare package of university lecturers and an additional N300,000,000,000.00 in revitalization funds.
“Furthermore, the House of Representatives continues to work with stakeholders – the Accountant General of the Federation and the Academic Staff Union of Universities to facilitate the adoption of elements of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
"This effort is being supervised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, Rep. Aminu Suleiman."
Kalu further stated that the Speaker has intervened for an exemption, although the Federal Government is not obligated to pay salaries to ASUU members for the period they were on strike.
“Professor Emmanuel Osodeke knows that the Federal Government of Nigeria is under no obligation to pay university lecturers’ salaries for the duration they were on strike. This is a settled matter in law. See S. 43(1)(a) Trade Disputes Act, Cap T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN).
"The Executive decision not to pay salaries to lecturers for the time spent on strike is warranted by the government’s legitimate interest in preventing moral hazard and discouraging disruptive industrial actions.
"Nonetheless, the Speaker has made interventions for an exemption in this regard, and Professor Osodeke is well aware of this.”
He noted that the 9th House has consistently made efforts to find ways to reform and improve public education from primary through tertiary levels because it understands the transformational role of education and the interest of the public in having a well-functioning education sector.
“Our objectives in this regard will not be achieved when stakeholders choose to ignore substantive issues and the consideration of bold ideas in favor of cheap blackmail and immoral propaganda,” he stated.
The House spokesman said the activities of the ASUU President are a threat to a timely and peaceful settlement of the industrial dispute.
“Professor Osodeke’s bad-faith approach to negotiations and his affinity for political brinkmanship are significant reasons the universities were on strike for so long. His ongoing interventions continue to threaten the progress being made to preclude the possibility of further disruptions to the academic calendar of the universities.
“Therefore, I call on him, in his capacity as President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, to desist from making further misleading statements against the House of Representatives and the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila.
"There is no place for hostility and selfish agitation in this critical moment. This is the time for calm heads and steady hands, working together for the common good.”
ASUU called an indefinite strike on February 14, 2022. The House Speaker, Gbajabiamila intervened in the industrial dispute, leading to its call-off in October.
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