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The Academic Staff Union of Universities has summoned leaders of its various branches nationwide to the national headquarters in Abuja for a meeting.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that the meeting will hold on Sunday (today) at the Festus Iyayi Building, University of Abuja.
Some leaders of the union had already arrived in Abuja for the meeting, it was learnt.
A senior member of the union’s National Executive Council, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the meeting to our correspondent in Abuja on Saturday.
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He said the aim of the meeting was to brief leaders across various universities on the status of the engagements between the Federal Government and the union’s leadership.
The NEC member noted that a decision on whether to embark on strike would be taken during the meeting.
As of now, it is not clear whether the union will embark on strike or not.
The NEC member said, “The leadership across various universities will meet and we will make the final decision. We need to review the terms and conditions set forth by the Federal Government. Our members already have their stance, so when we get briefed, we will be able to make a decision.
ASUU’s one-month ultimatum to the Federal Government ended last week Saturday, leading to tension within the academic community in public universities.
In a last-minute move to avert a potential full-blown strike, the government summoned the union’s leadership to a meeting in Abuja on Monday.
The meeting lasted until Tuesday, though both parties refused to make the details public due to the rules guiding the negotiation process.
Already, the union had threatened a full strike in response to what it described as the “nonchalant” attitude the government has continued to display toward its demands.
The demands include the review of the 2009 ASUU–Federal Government agreement, payment of outstanding salaries and earned allowances, and disbursement of the university revitalisation fund.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa — who is currently out of the country — has insisted that the government has met the union’s demands.
Speaking to State House correspondents two weeks ago, the minister reiterated the President’s directive that there should be no strike in public universities, adding that negotiations were ongoing and that the government was doing everything possible to keep students in school
