FG Insists 2009 Pact with ASSU still binding

 

 

FG Insists 2009 Pact With ASUU Still Binding

 

The Federal Government has reaffirmed that the 2009 agreement it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) remains the most recent and binding framework governing relations with the union.

 

The clarification, issued by the Federal Ministry of Education on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, followed remarks by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, during an interaction with journalists in Abuja. The minister had restated the government’s commitment to ending the protracted industrial dispute that has disrupted the nation’s university system for more than a decade.

 

According to the statement, the 2009 agreement is the last formally signed pact between the government and the lecturers’ union. It explained that while a draft agreement was produced in 2021 by the Nimi Briggs-led renegotiation committee inaugurated in 2017, the document was never formally endorsed by the Federal Government.

 

“Dr. Alausa’s remark about there being ‘no new signed agreement’ referred specifically to the unsigned 2021 draft. The 2009 agreement remains the latest legally binding framework between the Federal Government and ASUU,” the ministry said.

 

It added that although the 2021 draft continues to serve as a working document for discussions, it does not replace the 2009 agreement.

 

Reaffirming its stance, the ministry stressed the administration’s determination to resolve the 16-year impasse with ASUU in what it described as a “sustainable and constitutionally backed manner” that will guarantee stability in the tertiary education sector.

 

The ministry further urged stakeholders and the public to disregard misinterpretations of the minister’s comments, noting that the government remains resolute in its efforts to ensure Nigerian universities remain open for teaching, learning, and research.