More crisis looms in Varsities, as FG moves to cut ASUU to size

A parallel academic trade union in Nigeria universities known as Congress of University Academics, CONUA and the Federal Government are now strategising on how to grant the union full registration to enable it operate on its own.

This is one of the moves, SUNSHINETRUTH gathered that it’s to reduce power of ASUU amidst over 7 months strike, this step may further aggravate the industrial unrest in the nation’s universities.

The National Coordinator of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sonmunu appealed to government to register the union, as he made the appeal during a courtesy call on the Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Chris Ngige in Abuja yesterday.

Dr Sunmonu explained that the members of CONUA in about twenty universities in the country can longer belong to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU due to unreconcilable differences in philosophy and modus operandi.

He condemned the ongoing prolong strike and ASUU’s insistence on using a new payment software called Universitiy Transparency and Accountability Solutions UTAS instead of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS which has already been adopted for payment of Federal Government workers in the country.

Dr Niyi Sonmunu also requested the Federal Government to stop the deduction of union dues of about three thousand members of CONUA to ASUU’s account.

Responding, the Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Chris Ngige who described the demand of the group as legitimate, promised to consider it objectively with the view to fastracking the registration process for CONUA.

Dr Ngige accordingly directed the Trade Unions Department in the ministry to constitute a committee to re-evaluate the request for the registration of CONUA and submit the report within four weeks.

Meanwhile, the leadership of ASUU is scheduled to meet with the Federal Government negotiation team tomorrow in continuation of the conciliatory efforts towards ending the seventh months old industrial action by the university lecturers.