The
Presidency said the industrial action declared by ASUU on Monday was totally
unnecessary. This was said by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, who also indicated that the amount being
demanded by the union was unrealizable.
Shehu spoke in
an interview on Channels Tv’s Sunrise Daily yesterday. He said ASUU leaders were
aware of the fact that the current administration inherited the agreements based
on which the industrial action was declared.
He said ASUU was also aware
that the Federal Government had set up a committee on the matter.
Shehu
gave an indication that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government might not be
able to meet the huge financial obligation the striking lecturers were demanding
since the N850bn debt was more than the total allocation to the Ministry of
Education in the 2017 Budget, which he put at N369bn.
“Governments enter
into agreements that they can pay for. Ability to pay is a key requirement in
going into agreements.
“Since President Buhari assumed office, he has
sent words out there in form of a warning to all government institutions that
they should not go into negotiations and agreements that they cannot pay for;
but get clearance.
“I understand that they are talking about debts owed
their members to the tune of N850bn. If I am correct, the entire appropriation
for the Ministry of Education for this year is N369bn. So where do they want us
to get the money from?
“We have inherited these agreements and we are not
running away from them. Government has set up a committee led by (Dr Wale)
Babalakin. They are already sitting. Why didn’t they sit down and
negotiate?
“This strike is totally unnecessary. The issues can be
resolved, especially where we have full understanding of where we are coming
from. The governments that signed those agreements did not deem it fit to
implement because the capacity was not there.
“If they are ready, they
can sit down and discuss with the committee that has capable and qualified
people as members.
“They want all the problems to go with a wave of the
hand. They want all the answers to all their problems at a go. There is an
avenue that the government has opened for them for dialogue and it is not closed
yet,” he said.
