FG Informs ASUU That They Cannot Pay For Work Not Done

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has disproved reports from the media, claiming unfairness in the payment of salaries to members of the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria (ASUU).

The Ministry of Labour and Employment further dissolved ASUU’s claims that their members were paid half of their salary for the month of October.
Mr Olajide Oshundu, the Head of Press and Public Relations issued a statement to the press on Saturday to the Labour Ministry, that Both reports are flagrantly false, deceptive, and factually distorted.

This statement proves that the members of the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria (ASUU) were paid an October salary in proportionate allocation(PRO-RATA), and were never half salary payment as reported widely by the media.
According to the ministry of Labour, pro-rata was conducted because they cannot be paid for work not done

This shows that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, never instructed the Accountant General of the Federation to remit the university lecturers’ half-salary.

The statement in part reads, “Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), asking ASUU to go back to work, the leadership of the union wrote to the Minister, informing him that they have suspended the strike. The Federal Ministry of Education wrote to him in a similar vein and our labour inspectors in various states also confirmed that they have resumed work.

“So, the Minister wrote to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, directing that their salaries should be restored. They were paid in pro rata to the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action. Pro-rata was done because you cannot pay them for work not done. Everybody’s hands are tied.”

The ministry equally faulted a statement by the Chairperson of ASUU, Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) branch, Muhammad N. Al-Mustapha, accusing the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of the union.

“Those obviously being referred to by the UDUS ASUU chairperson were members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association (MDCAN) who abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU because they abhorred the incessant strikes by the union and its grave effects on medical education in Nigeria and production of more medical doctors.

“Accusing the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of ASUU, is a barefaced distortion of facts. Mustapha said he received information that a segment of the staff in the College of Health Sciences (CHS) has been paid seven months of their withheld salaries from March to September, due to a letter written to the Minister of Finance, instructing the exemption of the under-listed staff on the application of ‘No Work, No Pay’ rule

“To set the records straight, the medical lecturers who are being referred to by the Chairperson of the ASUU UDUS branch, abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU. This has been corroborated in a press statement by the Chairman, MDCAN UdUS, Dr B. Jubrin and Secretary, Dr I. G Ango, on Friday, November 4, 2022.”

Consequently, the ministry dismissed the accusation of selective treatment in the payment of salaries to ASUU members, urging the media to cross-check their facts to avoid feeding the public with the wrong information.