ASSU drags FG over withheld salaries

According to information obtained by The PUNCH, the Academic Staff Union of Universities may sue the Federal Government for its members' eight months' worth of unpaid wages.

Once the government begins paying the members of the alternative union, the Congress of Nigerian University Academics, ASUU will file a lawsuit, according to information obtained.

Femi Falana, the attorney for ASUU, revealed this in a Monday interview with The PUNCH.

The FG is planning to refund the withheld salaries and allowances of lecturers working under the auspices of CONUA, according to a story in The PUNCH. This will be done through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

This information was included in a memo sent by Charles Wali, Director of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and sent to Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, President of CONUA.

The PUNCH had previously detailed how, throughout the eight-month ASUU strike, the government withheld the pay of Nigerian academics.

The government also officially recognized CONUA as a union during the strike.

Sunmonu had previously stated in an interview with The PUNCH that because his union's members had not gone on strike, their salaries should not have been withheld.

When questioned about the FG's proposal to compensate CONUA members while excluding ASUU, Falana responded, "We want them to pay the (CONUA) money. Because of this, we have not responded.

“That (the payment) will form the legal basis for the government to now pay ASUU. We will now have the legal grounds to challenge them in a court of law. Through that, ASUU will be paid. They won’t have a choice. Let them go ahead.”

At the time this article was filed, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the national president of ASUU, could not be reached for comment.

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