The Federal Government has explained the reason for the payment of half salary to lecturers claiming they were paid for the number of days they worked in October.
A statement from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment issued on Saturday offered this clarification.
Earlier in the week, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, had expressed bewilderment at receiving half salary for the month of October which many took as a sign of the government reneging on the terms of the mediation brokered by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
We reported how Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives waded into the industrial dispute between the union and the Federal Government.
The statement from the ministry read in part: “Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, asking ASUU to go back to work, the leadership of the union wrote to the Minister, informing him that they have suspended the strike. The Federal Ministry of Education wrote to him in a similar vein and our labour inspectors in various states also confirmed that they have resumed work.”
The statement continued: “They were paid in pro-rata for the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action.”
The statement stressed that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, did not instruct the Accountant General of the Federation to pay ASUU members half salaries for the month of October.
Meanwhile, the ASUU National Executive Council, NEC, will on Monday hold a crucial meeting to deliberate on the next step to take, following the development.