The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has absolved the federal government of any blame over the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), noting that President Muhammad Buhari has done his best within available resources to meet the demands of the striking lecturers.
The Minister spoke on Wednesday on Channels TV Politics Today, saying the people have no reason to be disappointed with the federal government on the issue.
He said: “If Nigerians are disappointed, I think they don’t have very good reason to be disappointed with the government on this issue.
“Why should they be disappointed? Just tell me why it is the fault of the government and not that of the union. You can only blame the government if it refuses to satisfy their demands.”
In the interview, Adamu explained the Federal Government’s efforts to resolve the industrial action, including the proposal a one-time package for the academics, emphasizing that the new package would be paid once, unlike previous agreements which were paid in instalments.
He said: “The agreement we reached or the position of the government that I offered is something government can pay if they say they agree.
“There is an increase in salary for university staff, 23.5% for all categories of the workforce in Federal Universities and 35% for professors. The same applies to Polytechnics and Colleges of education. There is another 150 billion for rehabilitation and for earned allowances.
“There is also the issue of platform to be used for payment of salaries, the president is now waiting for the report of the technical committee set up to look into the three platforms. From what I have seen, the U3PS is probably the best followed by UTAS and then IPPIS. The acceptance of the IPPIS depends on the report given to the President.”
The education minister added that the new salary review would be included in the 2023 budget, noting that the strike action triggered the review.
He said: “The new salary will be in the 2023 budget. It has been captured which means it won’t be paid immediately.
“There is currently a backlog of payments being done with the IPPISS platform. The new platform to be adopted might be a combination of the three platforms under review.
“The new increment is based on the government decision to increase salary. The best idea for any salary increment is inflation and for a very long time, there has not been any review.
“The crisis now probably triggered the government to start with the university people and probably when the economy improves, it will be done across all sectors.”
