ASUU has NO plans to strike - ASUU chairman

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has no plans to commence an interim strike on October 2, an official has said. The Chairman of the University of Abuja chapter of ASUU, Ben Ugheoke, said on Wednesday that he was wrongly quoted on a planned strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria had quoted Mr. Ugheoke on Tuesday as saying the lecturers’ strike would commence next month.

In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Mr. Ugheoke said he never gave such statement to the NAN reporter.

“A certain reporter in NAN is responsible for this damage,” he said. “As a result of this falsified report, I am facing a panel later tonight from ASUU National body.”

The university don said he had asked for a rebuttal of the story since it was published.

“I have reached out to the NAN reporter and he told me it was a mix-up. He also begged me to save his job,” he said.

In the report widely circulated by Nigerian media, the government news agency quoted the don as saying ASUU was to embark on a one-week warning strike from October 2.

The report also said a full blown strike was planned for November if the federal government failed to meet the demands from its negotiations with ASUU in 2009 and 2013.

The report also highlighted that the federal government was yet to provide funds for the Universities NEEDS Assessment and the facilitation of the registration of the Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company, NUPEMCO.