TheCable

The federal government says the ongoing strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may be called off “within the next one week”. 

Adamu Adamu, minister of education, said this on Thursday at a meeting with the senate committee on tertiary education and TETFUND in Abuja.

ASUU, an umbrella body of all university lecturers in the country, is currently on strike over the federal government’s failure to fulfil its 2009/2013 agreement with the union.

Adamu expressed optimism that with the level of progress made in the negotiation between ASUU and the federal government, students and lecturers would soon be returning to classes.

“The issue of renegotiation is already going on. I have already written a letter formalising the meeting I had with the union, because I went alone to face them and I wrote a letter which I gave them yesterday,” he said.

“From the way they received it, I think it is possible that the strike will be called off within a week, maximum.”

While assuring that the ministry of finance is working towards release of needed funds, the minister also said the ministry will undertake a forensic audit of the N30 billion allowance earlier released to the union.

“The union had asked for N23 billion to be paid. But we said the condition for that N23 billion to be released was for them to account for the N30 billion they had taken, which is a total of N53 billion. And they were not able to account for it,” Adamu said.

“The minister of finance then undertook to do the audit from the ministry and we agreed that the result will be known within six months.

“The federal government undertook to be paying them N1.5 billion each month during the time they are waiting for the outcome of the audit.

“Their grouse now is that the forensic audit promised by the minister of finance has not been done and the money promised has not been paid.

“So, at our meeting two days ago, we agreed that we will pay them and do forensic audit on the entire N53 billion.

“I wrote to the minister and she has already approved it and this money will be paid; probably on Monday, they will be able to receive the cheque.’’

He, however, added that the request of the lecturers that federal universities in the country be exempted from the treasury single account (TSA) will not be granted.

“There are other issues which we didn’t agree, and that was their request to be taken out of TSA. I told them that it is not possible because this is a new policy and government is not going to change it for anyone,” he said.