Contrary to many media reports that the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, defied the resume-or-be-sacked directive by the federal government, the president’s senior special adviser on media and publicity, Dr Doyin Okupe said there was substantial compliance by lecturers across the universities nationwide.
Addressing the press in Abuja yesterday on the ASUU/FG face-off, Dr Okupe said up to 70 percent of university lecturers signed to resume work yesterday and this has made it unnecessary for the federal government to implement the terms of its ultimatum.
“The government was very serious when it issued the ultimatum because it was pushed to the wall. The government was not grandstanding and there is no face-off between the government and the striking lecturers. Information available to government confirms that there was substantial compliance to the government’s order and this has made the government to mellow down. In a situation where 70 percent of lecturers signed to resume duty, it is substantial compliance.”
The president’s spokesman said the federal government had met all the demands of ASUU and therefore there was no other legitimate reason for ASUU to continue embarking on the strike.
“ASUU chairman said if the money is paid, he would call off the strike. This is strong evidence to that effect. There is no other legitimate reason to continue with the strike even if for one day. I want to join other well meaning Nigerians to call off the strike. If ASUU is serious, they should call of the strike. Well meaning Nigerians have intervened, so ASUU should listen to the voice of reason.”
A letter confirming the payment of N200 billion into an account in the CBN, which was addressed to the Accountant General of the Federation by the deputy governor (Operations) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Tunde Lemo, was displayed by Dr Okupe as an evidence that the federal government has kept its own side of the bargain.
The letter titled ‘Confirmation of the execution of your mandate for the credit of an account number 00200*****522, revitalisation of universities infrastructure account, CBN’s deputy governor in charge of operations said “I write to confirm the execution of the following mandates by the Central Bank of Nigeria for funding of the above mentioned account. ……I wish to further confirm that the available balance in the aforementioned account is two hundred billion naira only.”
With this, Dr Okupe said the government had proven to the whole world that it had no credibility problem and that the aim of this administration was to ensure good governance.