ASUP rejects Fed Govt's N20.4b offer

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) yesterday rejected Federal Government’s N20.4 billion offer accruing from the migration of lower cadre to CONTISS 15 to settle salary arrears.

The resolution followed ASUP’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja.

The government agreed to give the polytechnics the N20. 4 billion after a meeting on January 21, presided over by the Surprising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike.

The minister said the money would be paid in instalments. But the union said the government should meet all its demands before the strike would be called off.

A statement by the union’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Clement Chirman, said: “The Academic Stafff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) rose from an emergency NEC meeting today (yesterday) with a strong resolve to continue with the ongoing strike until all the 13-point demands tabled before the Federal Government are addressed.

“The union reviewed the level of progress so far made on the strike and resolved that most of the issues tabled before the government had not been addressed. The union noted that of the four issues the Federal Government agreed to address in July, not all of them have been addressed. The union stressed that the four issues selected for immediate addressed by the government in July, 2013 do not in any way substitute the 13-point demand earlier tabled but were to take care of the exigencies of that moment and to prepare ways for further discussions on other demands of ASUP.

“The government’s failure to address those issues at that time indicated enough insincerity and that led to the resumption of the strike in October, 2013. Even if the government had addressed the four issues and failed to attend to the other demand that formed the 13 points by the end of July, 2013, the union would have still resumed the suspended strike.

“It is unfortunate that the government is making the public to believe that the strike is all about the implementation of CONTISS 15 migration. This is a strategy that is aimed at confusing the demands of the union and to put it in bad light…”