One year after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off its eight months industrial action, President Bola Tinubu has approved the payment of their withheld salaries.
The latest directive was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.
According to Ngelale, the president invoked a “prerogative of mercy” to waive the earlier “no work, no pay” rule imposed on the workers by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Invoking the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, President Bola Tinubu has approved the partial waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order that was instituted against striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) following the commencement of their eight-month industrial action which began on February 14, 2022 and was terminated on October 17, 2022.
The President granted the waiver with a mandatory requirement that the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment must secure a Document of Understanding (DoU) establishing that this exceptional waiver granted will be the last one to be granted to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and all other Education Sector Unions.
When ASUU embarked on strike in 2022, the government cited Section 43(1)(a) of the Trade Disputes Act to impose the “no work, no pay rule” on the workers. ASUU, however, kicked against the position insisting that the government’s failure to fulfill its commitment informed the strike action.
The government is however silent on the withheld salaries of other workers unions in the universities, who had also embarked on strike within the same period.
