The Federal Government seems to have torn apart the four major unions within the university system, following the introduction of a sharing formula for the disbursement of the N22billion Earned Allowances.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the Federal Government had approved 75% allocation to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, while the remaining 25% should go to the 3 other non-teaching unions.
This sharing formula, it was learnt, had angered the non-teaching staff of the universities under the Joint Action Committee, JAC, comprising of Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities, NASU, and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU.
Issuing a statement on Thursday in Abuja, The SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi, respectively, warned of the implications of this alleged lopsided formula.
The unions described the sharing formula as lopsided, skewed and unrealistic.
The statement said: “Members of the public could recall that JAC as a mature and responsible body was prevailed upon through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) agreed and signed between us and the FGN on 25″ February 2021 to suspend our last strike which we embarked upon in protest to the earlier lopsided disbursement of N30b to ASUU, while the 3 other Unions were given only N10b among other agitations after JAC embarked on strike on Friday, 5″ February 2021 and suspended the strike action on Thursday, 25” February 2021.
“JAC had during conciliatory meetings with the Hon Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Chris Ngige alongside other Government officials insisted on the release of the findings of the forensic audit of the previous disbursements, this we believe, if done, will clearly indicate the actual success or otherwise of the previous payments. However, till today, nothing of that nature was done.
“We have also queried the opaque formula used in coming up with this skewed and unscientific disbursements.
“We want to state categorically that our members have been pushed to the wall and cannot continue to allow this injustice. We are currently discussing with our members across the nation and we cannot guarantee continuous industrial harmony in the public Universities and Inter-University Centres in Nigeria if and when this current disbursement is allowed to materialise.
“We are therefore urgently requesting for an immediate suspension of this vexatious disbursement and hereby implore the relevant Government agencies saddled with this important assignment to go back to the table and rework the template of disbursement
with a view to coming up with a more realistic and acceptable allocation formula that will be fair to all members of staff in the University system.
“For the records, we in JAC are not competing with any other Union or its members but are strong believers of giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s, “the Unions insisted.
