Emmanuel Osodeke, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has countered the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, over his claim of a scheduled meeting on Thursday, June 23, to resolve the ongoing strike by university lecturers.
On Wednesday, June 22, when speaking to the reporters Ngige had said the federal government will soon resolve issues on the strike by ASUU. He also said concerns over payment platforms will be addressed with the union and other stakeholders in the next meeting fixed for Thursday.
Reacting to the claim in an interview with journalists on Friday, June 22 Osodeke said the union did not receive any letter of invitation from the minister.
Osodeke also called for Ngige’s removal from the negotiation process for allegedly worsening the situation.
“We were not invited to any meeting. None of our members was invited. We have a secretariat but we never got an invitation from them.
“The problem we have with this government, especially with the minister of labour, is that if you can tell the world that you have fixed a meeting which you didn’t, how do you expect us to believe other things you have said?
“He should confirm to the world that he sent an invitation to ASUU for a meeting on Thursday.
“The minister of labour should leave us to deal with the minister of education. He was the one that made this matter worse to this extent. He was the one that decided to use hunger as a weapon when he said no work no pay,” he said.
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